Liberator
by ValleyToHell
Summary: Liberator: A person who frees another from imprisonment - Abagail's on a vacation in Charming and an unexpected meeting between Jax and Abby turns into a week of romance and a few life lessons. What happens when Abby's vacation ends and she has to go back to her hectic life in Los Angeles? There's no way Jax is going to let her slip from his grasp for too long. Jax/OC
1. Chapter 1

**Hi everyone! Just a little brief information about this story. It's going to be a slow burn between the main character Abigail and Jax Teller. This storyline takes place just before season one starts and as it progresses I'll touch upon some of the same plot-lines going on in the seasons. All credit goes to Kurt Sutter for creating such an addictive show. You'll learn more about Abigail as the story goes forward. I'm always open to suggestions so feel free to shoot me a review! Thank you and I hope you all enjoy :) xo**

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I glanced at my hand as it swayed up and down outside of the window of the car I was currently in. I should really be paying attention to the road but the music on the radio was giving me a serious headache and it reminded me of the home I left 3 years ago in Mississippi. It was too country, if that was even a thing, but it really was. The radio was being controlled by my partner in crime Michelle, but most people called her Misha for some odd reason that she never explained to me when I met her 3 years ago. Misha only listened to country music when we were on road trips, and currently we were heading toward her hometown to visit her brother who just arrived home from his second and final tour over in Afghanistan. When Misha got the call last week that her twin brother was finally going to be home she danced around and cried which made me worried at first but when she finally hung up the phone she had told me the great news and I couldn't have been happier for her.

I had never met her twin brother Ian, but once and awhile they skyped when Ian wasn't busy so I had seen and spoken to him a handful of times through video chat. The only resemblances between the two were their leaf green eyes, the dark brown, nearly black hair, and their energetic attitudes towards life. They were both so happy, even on a rainy day. Happiness and energy was something I needed when I moved from Mississippi to California when I was 21, I was desperate for it.

"Eyes on the road Abs" Misha said over the loud twang music and I averted my eyes back onto the open highway in front of us. The sun was just rising over the far away horizon meaning that I had been driving for just over 3 hours; we still had another 2 before we got to her parents' house.

"I thought you said you were going to sleep in the car" I mentioned while pressing the "lower volume" button on the steering wheel "Considering you were at the studio practically all night."

"Remind me to buy you a coffee when we get there, I forget sometimes how much of a grouch you are this early" I rolled my eyes at her comment but I wasn't going to disagree. Misha had stayed at the dance studio where she worked until close, and then some last night and judging from the hickey on her right shoulder blade I could tell why she was incredibly late getting home.

"Maybe you should have told Tony that you had a road trip scheduled?"

"I did… numerous times but he's very persuasive when he wants to be" I smirked a bit at her comment, remembering the first time they had met almost a year ago last summer, he had got her to try a shot of tequila even though I had begged her for a year and a half. And just like that she was hooked on him like no other. They were cute most of the time, and then it was nights like last night when I couldn't stand the thought of Tony because he always made her late for different things.

"Well cover that up before your dad sees it, we don't need Sarge gunning Tony down anytime soon" She moved her hand up over the mark on her shoulder that I had pointed out to her when she was packing at the apartment.

"I'll tell him I burnt myself with my curling iron again"

"Smart thinking" I told her sarcastically

"Shut up and turn my music back on"

"Can't we listen to something else for like an hour, maybe a half hour?"

"Why does Country music bother you so much?" She asked "You're from the south, you should be all redneck ho-dancing and shit" Misha said while she slipped her feet from the dashboard and onto the floor.

"I've already told you why. I can deal with it for a little while, a few songs at max and then it's just a headache" I rubbed at the side of my head with my elbow propped up against the open window of the car door.

"Yeah sure we can listen to something else for a little while…" I quickly changed the station to something more upbeat and with a guitar riff once or twice "Did you get much sleep yesterday after you left work?"

I shook my head "You know I run on little to no sleep Mish"

"Yeah I just thought those sleeping pills would be working"

"They do, remember? I took them two weeks ago and slept for 16 hours straight, you thought I was in a coma and I missed work"

"Right, yeah maybe they could lower the dosage or something so you could get at least 6 hours of sleep… it's going to be a really long day"

"You haven't slept yet either ya know"

"I was planning on maybe napping at my parents considering I'm definitely not falling asleep now"

"Then a nap when we get there it is, you can buy me a coffee later"

"Sounds like a plan" She said while she put her hand over my mouth to stifle a yawn. "Do you think we packed enough for a week?" She suddenly asked while turning around and grabbing her bag out of the backseat of the car.

"I think so; it's the summer so we don't need much" I glanced over at her lap while she rummaged through her big purse.

"But we're so totally going out tonight after we spend time with my folks; one of Ian's friends is hosting that huge party"

"Oh right" I said, kicking myself that I forgot about it. "I think we packed enough, I know you did"

"Hey you over-pack too like all the time so don't give me that"

"You're right I do, mostly because you drag me to these places where sometimes I need a dress, or I need a nice top or heels. I find myself over-packing just to be safe"

"You caught on quickly" Misha said with a proud smile on her porcelain face "Though I don't think you'll need a dress this time, skirts and nice tops are a must on all trips"

"Sure, sure" I mumbled while turning the volume up one notch but she didn't notice "I'm sure you'll be picking out what I'm wearing to this party tonight, am I right?"

"I trust your judgment, though you should really ditch the low rise baggy ripped up jeans, this isn't the 90's" I looked down at my comfortable jeans and rolled my eyes.

"Don't make fun of my jeans and I won't make fun of how your hair gets frizzy in the humidity"

"Hey low blow" She whined out while cautiously pulling her dark hair tighter in the bun at the back of her head "Just because you can do whatever you want with your beach hair doesn't mean you can pick on mine"

"Sorry, sorry" I laughed under my breath while pushing a lock of my sandy blonde hair wavy back behind my ear. It was the color and the style of hair I received from my father's genes. I remembered seeing photos of my grandmother's hair and then when my dad was a kid he had the longest blonde hair for a tanned little southern boy on a farm, everyone thought he was a girl until he shaved it all off when he was 7.

"Did you pack those cut out thigh shorts?" She asked while I turned the steering wheel a bit to go into the middle lane "I think they were acid wash or gray"

"Yeah you put it on the board to bring them"

"Good" She smiled wide and I raised an eyebrow after glancing over at her

"Why did you want me to bring my slutty shorts you made me buy?"

"Because you're wearing them tonight"

"No way, I'm not wearing slutty shorts at your parents' house"

"Not at my parent's small get-together, out tonight at the party, my brother has a lot of cute friends and well I might have told…"

"Please tell me you aren't setting me up with one of them; please tell me you didn't do that because that would be…" She cut me off this time

"I did and you're totally going to love him, he's your type and he's really sweet and cute and recently single" She rambled on

"I wasn't aware I had a type"

"Well maybe not completely your type, but he plays guitar so…" I sighed while trying not to feel uncomfortable. I should have seen this something after all this was going to be the fifth time she had set me up with someone. "If it doesn't work out with him then at least you can say you got laid while on vacation" I choked on the breath caught in my throat and leaned over a bit and hit her shoulder lightly.

"You didn't say I was willing to sleep with him tonight, did you?" I asked her while turning down the radio volume

"No way, I just told him that it had been a while since you know… have been in a serious relationship"

"Oh god" I whispered while putting my free hand on the side of my face

"Come on it's not that bad, let me see if I can find a photo of him hold on" She said while skimming her finger over her IPhone and I couldn't actually believe that I was waiting to see what he looked like.

"What's his name?" I asked

"Brandon, seriously you'll like him I just know it"

"You said that about Greg, Steve, and Tim also"

"Well those guys turned out to be dick's so I apologize, but this guy Brandon has been friends with Ian for a really long time and I even asked Ian to hook it up"

"I remember a time last year when you were pushing me towards dating your brother"

"Until I came to my senses because let's be honest, my brother is a douchebag, I will admit that. He's very picky about certain things, especially women. If you two ended up dating and it was serious for a while, he'd screw it up eventually and then we'd not be friends anymore. It was a bad idea right?" I nodded while she shoved her phone towards me and I took it, switching hands on the steering wheel "That's him and Ian back in February"

"He's a marine?" I asked "You didn't say anything about him being a marine"

"Is that a problem?"

"No it's not…" I glanced over the photo and pursed my lips a bit. Brandon was just a little taller than Ian which had to make him about 6'3", he was built, that she could tell under his uniform and he had an awesome smile. His hair was buzzed, but from the sun shining it looked to be a brown color.

"So what do you think?" She asked after a moment and I handed her back the phone

"He's cute" I told her and she smiled wider while shutting her phone screen off and tossing her phone back into her bag.

"See I told you, you two would look great together!" She said blissfully and I couldn't help but smile a bit. Okay so maybe the party tonight wouldn't be a total drunk-crazy shit show and I'd have fun. After working 50 hours this week I could use a little bit of fun in my life and maybe, just maybe Brandon could be involved in that fun.

Another hour and a half passed and thankfully we were almost to our final destination because the cramp in my lower back was starting to throb painfully. I glanced over at Misha; she had fallen asleep against the window about 45 minutes ago after she had talked herself into exhaustion. I was also thankful for the silence. As much as I loved my best friend sometimes I wished she just had an off button, or at the very least a mute button. I should have been use to her energy by now but after living 24 years of my life down in Mississippi where no one understood me because of my out of this world dreams, I knew it was going to take more than 3 years with Misha to get used to it.

I glanced at the GPS on the dash again and flipped my blinker on and turned off from the highway and leaned back against in my seat, trying to stretch out my lower back. I had met Misha's parents last year when we came up to visit for a long weekend and they had to be the sweetest people I had ever met in my entire life. Donna was her mother, she was a tiny woman who wouldn't stop baking until we arrived which left us with 4 bins of cookie and brownies to bring back to Los Angeles with us. Her father was Tom, but everyone called him Sarge because he was a Sergeant year's back in the Navy. Sarge was tough around the edges but once he trusted you, he opened up to be this youthful, intelligent and humorous man who somehow won every single hand at poker one night.

I was jealous to say the least about her parents, her home she grew up in and also the town. Everyone's family life in some aspect they want to change and if I could have changed one thing, I would have changed it all.

I grew up in one of those "Jesus only loves you if you go to church on Sunday" kind of towns. There was a church on every other block and only one bar, which was usually filled to the brim most nights. The population was roughly 3,000 people; it was a very, very small town that most people didn't even know about unless you had to drive through it to get to the highway. Everyone knew everybody. Nothing was a secret and if you didn't go to the town meetings every other Tuesday then the mayor would start a rumor about your family. My dad missed a meeting one Tuesday night and the next day at school kids were whispering that my family was poor. I mean that wasn't completely a lie, my dad was poor and my mom had money, family money. After she died when I was 14, I thought that my dad only married her for her family money, which could have been the truth.

My parents were only happy and civil when they were out around the town, I never knew why they just didn't get a divorce because they would have been happier being separated, I know I would have been happier. They fought constantly, especially when my dad would come home drunk on Saturday nights and have to be up early in the morning for church. After she died, we stopped going.

"Mish" I said while shaking her arm gently and she groaned and pulled her face from the window.

"What?" She whispered out

"What street was it?" I asked her

"Dean Road, just past the square" I nodded while she pulled her sunglasses down onto her eyes and yawned again against her hand.

"Damn how long have I been asleep?" She asked while looking out the window at the town square I was driving through.

"About an hour… here we are" I said while turning onto the correct street and slowed my driving down a bit until the big red house came into view and I pulled the jeep into the driveway next to her dad's motorcycle and put the car into park before pulling the keys out of the ignition.

"Finally" Misha whispered while she pushed her door open and I did the same after pushing the sunglasses onto my eyes as well from the beaming sun above us.

The first thing I did was stretch out my back by bending over and then standing up and arching my back with my fingers rubbing into the spot and finally there was a small pop noise and I sighed in relief as the pain instantly stopped. Shutting the car door, I walked to the back of the black jeep and waited as Misha pulled her second bag up onto her shoulder and then I grabbed my suitcase and extra bag, pulling the black thick strap onto my shoulder before shutting the trunk.

After hugs and small chit-chat Donna could see just how tired the both of us were and decided against making us both a big breakfast and sent us on our way to our rooms. I laid down on the full size guest bed on my back, looking up at the white ceiling before closing my exhausted burning eyes and kicking my shoes off onto the rug. Sleep came fairly easy and I couldn't have been happier to finally shut out the world.


	2. Chapter 2

**Second Installment! Read and Review! xo**

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As the warm shower spray hit against my face again I quickly wiped my fingers against my eyes to see and then leaned down to turn the nob until the water stopped. I had gotten about 4 hours of straight sleep and I was thankful for that because I felt like my body wasn't going to evaporate in thin air. Grabbing the towel that was folded on the counter by the sink, I quickly dried my body and then towel dried my hair so it wasn't dripping on the clothes I had pulled out for the family dinner tonight. The blue cotton shorts I pulled on were a sailor style and the white lace tank top was one of my favorites. It was dressy yet casual, and from how Donna said earlier the family dinner didn't need to be over-the-top dressy, she directed the words towards Misha though. Misha was still probably going to wear a dress or a skirt-top combo with her dark hair in big curls like she usually did for dinners. I on the other hand opted out for something easy all of the time.

I wiped my hand against the mirror and started to apply a thin line under my eyes with black eyeliner and then curled my dark lashes with mascara. As I zipped up my makeup bag and placed it down on the counter again, I looked at myself in the mirror and bit down on my inner cheek while tilting my head to the side. My eyes were too blue and it was the thing that most people said they noticed first about me. They were the color of the oceans in Cancun, a place where Misha took me two summers ago for a birthday present. I only remember half of that vacation, other than remembering how I felt most mornings in a hungover oblivion. I walked into the bedroom and tossed my makeup bag into the suitcase and grabbed my hair dryer, and brush. Plugging it into the wall, I brushed through my damp hair and then started to dry it. Misha would probably want me to do something with it for tonight but the hell with it, natural it was.

"Are you almost done?" I heard Misha say as she leaned herself against the threshold of the bathroom door. I turned to look at her while brushing through my now dry hair and nodded. She was wearing a pale pink flow-mid-thigh skirt and a blue tucked in tank top, and with her glittery pumps to top it off.

"Yeah, just finishing up in here… you look nice" A smile tugged on her red stained lipstick lips before she looked me over again.

"So do you, what shoes are you wearing?" She asked as she walked back into the bedroom and I rolled my eyes, already knowing she was going through my bag to find something for my feet. I left the bathroom after my hair was perfectly wavy over my shoulders and she turned around and held up a pair of short ankle black heeled booties.

"I was going to wear those tonight" I told her

"Wear them now because we're going to be dancing a lot later so you have to break them in now" I nodded while grabbing the shoes from her and slipped them onto my feet and stood up. Looking through my suitcase again I raised my eyebrow before looking through my toiletry bag and tossed it down with a sigh.

"You think we can run to the store? I always seem to forget something"

"What was it this time?" She asked as I closed the suitcase and picked it up before tossing it onto the loveseat against the far wall.

"Deodorant and a toothbrush, I remembered toothpaste though" I shook my head, mentally cursing at myself "If you don't want to go I can totally just find a store in the square, they have that Rite-Aid right?"

"No that's not a problem, come on" I grabbed the car keys from the small corner table as well as my small cross-over black clutch bag and we both made our way down the stairs, smelling something deliciously chocolate in the kitchen. "Mom we're heading to the store do you need anything?" Misha said while we walked down the hall into the kitchen.

"Both of you are going? I thought I'd have hands today" Donna said with a sigh as she turned around, wiping her hands against the white apron wrapped around her waist.

"Mish why don't you stay, I know where the store is" She turned her head back at me and nodded "Do you need anything Donna?" I asked her and she nodded.

"Actually if you wouldn't mind, I'm running low on flour and frosting, if you find creamy chocolate just pick that up and I'll pay you back later"

"Don't worry about it, I'll see you in a bit" I told her and she smiled back at me with a short nod of her head before telling Misha what she had to do.

Leaving the big house, I unlocked the car and hopped in and instantly rolled down the window. The downside to having a black car was how hot it got when it was facing direct sunlight. It wasn't too hot outside though, just above 80 degrees and there was a small breeze so I really couldn't complain. I dealt with worse in Mississippi growing up. Pulling the sunglasses out of my small purse, I slipped them on over my eyes and began to pull out of the long driveway.

I drove fairly quickly into the town square and found a parking spot in less time than I thought I'd be waiting. Making sure I had my money on me, which I should have checked back at the house when I thought about it, I opened up the car door and locked it with the clicker that was attached to the keys. I waited until a few cars passed before crossing the street and pulling the door back into the small Rite-Aid convenience store. I was greeted by a gust of the air conditioner that made my legs get Goosebumps. I wondered how much their electricity bill cost each month when all you really needed to do was open up a few windows.

I grabbed the deodorant first and then skimmed through the toothbrushes and found an easy cheap one before I started to look for the flour and frosting for Donna. I pursed my lips and pulled my sunglasses up onto the top of my head while I searched the aisles. Giving up once I couldn't find the items, I walked up to the counter. There was a teenage boy working and he was just staring at me like he was a deer caught in the headlights, then when I caught his gaze his eyes quickly found something better to do.

"Well hello" He said when I walked up to him and then cleared his cracked voice, I couldn't help but turn my lips up into a small smile "Will that be all today Miss?"

"Actually I was looking for a few more things, hopefully you can help me"

"Sure, what were you looking for" He asked

"Baking flour and chocolate frosting, I looked up and down the aisles but maybe it's just my eyes but I can't find it"

"Oh that'll be aisle two" He pointed and I looked back where he was pointing and I nodded "Is there anything else I can help you with?"

"No that'll be it, thank you" I glanced at his name tag quickly before meeting his eyes again "Derek." He grinned so wide and I bit down on my tongue to keep the laughter in my throat. I turned around and walked toward aisle two and just before I could round the corner I smacked straight into someone else which made me stumble back two steps.

"I'm so sorry I wasn't watching where I was going" I quickly apologized while crouching down to pick up the small box that he had dropped, which were bandages. I stood back up and handed it to his waiting hand.

"Don't worry about it Darlin', no harm no foul" I swallowed hard and nodded while my eyes took in his defined features. He looked familiar but I couldn't put my finger on where I had seen him before. His blonde hair was short and his eyes were a striking pale blue, the small blonde goatee that he was scratching against now made me quickly blink and shake my head quickly trying to get my thoughts in order.

"I'll just get out of your way, sorry again" I told him before going around him, putting my focus on getting the items before I could make a fool out of myself again.

"Wait, I don't think I've seen you around here before" I heard him say and I turned my head as one of his hands was shoved into his blue baggy jeans and I nodded.

"That's because I'm not from around here" I quickly told him before turning my eyes from him and back on the bags of flour in front of me. I'm sure Donna needed more than a small bag.

"Names Jax" He said while putting his hand out that had been in his pocket outreached to shake my hand and I took in a small deep breath before putting on a smile and put my free hand into his larger one and shook his hand gently.

"Abigail" I told him before slipping my hand from his rough, calloused one. "I'm here on a vacation type of thing, reason as to why you haven't seen me around here before." He nodded as his eyes danced over me and I couldn't help but hold the rolling of my eyes back before he saw that. I looked over the white t shirt he wore under the leather vest and then my eyes read the words on the black vest. Oh he was in that biker gang that Misha warned me about, great just what I needed.

"Right, right. Not many people come to Charming for a vacation though" He mentioned

"Yeah well…" I grabbed the flour bag and turned back towards him "My best friend's brother is coming home from a tour overseas, I'm on cake ingredient duty" His blonde eyebrows rose this time.

"You're friends with Ian MacKinnon?"

"You know him? Of course you do, he's like a local hero here" I really should be wrapping up this conversation, Misha was going to chew my ear of if I was any longer.

"Yeah something like that, I went to high school with Ian" I nodded "Do you need help with that?" He asked as I put the flour bag up against my hip.

"No, I'm alright. I'm looking for chocolate frosting though, Derek up there told me it'd be down here but…" I quickly changed the subject and I watched him lean over the side of me and then he showed the item I had been looking for in his hand. "Thank you" I whispered before taking it.

"Now I know why the kid had a shit-eating grin on his face when I walked in here" Jax mentioned and I raised an eyebrow before he continued "with a beautiful new-woman walking around the store, I think you just made him go through puberty" I couldn't hold back the laugh this time and he grinned.

"His voice did crack a few times while he was speaking to me…" He chuckled and it made me smile a little wider "I should probably get out of here though before he asks for my number."

"Probably darlin'" I walked by him again but this time he was in step beside me "Are you going to be at Ian's coming home party tonight down at Harry's?"

"If that's where his party is then yes, Michelle didn't tell me the name of the bar" I placed my things down on the counter in front of Derek and watched as Derek looked down away from Jax to ring my things up. I grabbed a ten dollar bill from my purse and leaned my hip against the counter.

"I'll see you there tonight then, gotta welcome home the hometown hero" I heard the sarcasm in his voice as I handed Derek the money while grabbing the plastic bag.

"Not friends with Ian I presume?" I asked him while I got my change and pushed it into my purse.

"His dad and my dad were buds growing up, other than hanging around with the kid when we were growing up, we weren't exactly in the same friend group in highschool" I nodded, I completely understood the meaning of that in more ways than one. During high school I had one friend and a boyfriend. Everyone else was a football player, a cheerleader, or a child of a member of the church. I was none of those and I was alright with my two friends.

"Understandable" I said while he paid for his box of bandages "Someone in need of a doctor?" I asked and he shrugged

"Probably but the guys a stubborn ass" I nodded while he got his change back and I turned my head back to Derek.

"Thanks again for the help" He stared at me and then nodded a few times without saying a word which made Jax chuckle again before we headed out of the store.

"Need a ride back to the McKinnon's?" He asked while we crossed the street to the parking lot and I shook my head while pressing the unlock button on my car key clicker.

"All set, thank you again for finding the frosting, pretty sure Mrs. McKinnon would have me looking around every store for it" He nodded while he looked over at my black jeep and back over to me.

"Not a problem but I do know of a way you can pay me back for bumping into me"

"Oh really?" I asked him with a small smile on my face and he smirked while nodding.

"Considering we're both going to Harry's tonight, have a drink with me"

"One drink?" I asked him and he nodded while sliding his hand back into his front pocket

"One drink" He confirmed

"I think I can squeeze that into my schedule for tonight, you might have to wait a few hours though"

"I'll wait all night darlin' if it means I get to talk to you again" he said and I felt his words light something within my lower abdomen.

"You're a smooth talker Jax, you know that?"

"I might have heard that once or twice before"

"I'm sure you have" I whispered, knowing full well that this man in front of me was probably the biggest playboy in this town. "I'll see you tonight Jax."

"I'll be looking forward to it Abigail" I turned after giving him a smile and opened up the front door and hopped inside, watching as he moved from behind my jeep to a few cars over and stopped at a motorcycle and threw his leg over. I took in a deep breath and leaned back in the seat, tossing the bag onto the passenger's seat before starting the car and pulling out of the spot and drove away.

Had I really agreed to have a drink with him? Usually I only got flirty after a few drinks but something about Jax told me I had to flirt with him or he wouldn't even bat an eyelash my way. I shook my head while my thoughts started to consume me. I'd have to ask Misha about him, because she had already told me about the Motorcycle club that originated in this town but I wanted to know more, especially about him. What was that Motorcycle club called again? Sons of something… I remembered reading it on the back of his vest and I think it started with an A. It definitely wasn't Sons of Charming, now that would have been funny. People would have thought they were some sort of gag out of Disney World, Charming.

As I pulled back into the driveway I got it, Sons of Anarchy. Of course, they were all rebels so Anarchy worked. But were the Sons bad or were they a good Motorcycle club?

"Why are you grinning?" Misha asked while I put the bag of flour down on the counter in the kitchen as well as the chocolate frosting.

"I'm not grinning" I said while taking my two items I bought for myself and walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs to the guest bedroom where I was living for the next week.

"You so totally were grinning, what happened? Why did it take so long?"

"I couldn't find the chocolate frosting" I quickly put on the deodorant and put the two things on the counter in the bathroom before walking back out to see her sitting on the edge of my bed.

"Doesn't explain why you were smiling like someone hit you with a cupid arrow" I raised an eyebrow and laughed under my breath while shaking my head.

"I wasn't"

"Fine, fine but you totally met a guy at the store" I kept quiet and put my purse down on my suitcase.

"Anyways" I mumbled "What's up with the Sons of Anarchy?" I asked her as I hopped up on the bed to lie down.

"Why? Did one of them bother you when you were at the store?"

"No… I just saw one of the vests and remembered you talking about them before is all" She eyed me and then shrugged

"What about them then?"

"Are they like a bad biker gang or…?"

"Not really I guess, I mean sure all of them have been to jail numerous times but usually they keep their serious business out of Charming"

"How do you know that?" I asked her and she shrugged again and stood up "What aren't you telling me?" I asked her while sitting up as she turned around and faced me.

"I dated one of them just after I got out of high school"

"You did? You never told me that"

"It wasn't one of my proudest moments"

"What was his name?" I asked her and she sighed and shook her head.

"Opie"

"Opie? What kind of name is Opie?" I laughed

"His first name is Harry but everyone called him Opie, don't question it okay?" I nodded again quickly "I went to this party and he was there, ended up talking and one thing lead to another, we only went out for less than a year"

"A year?!" I asked her a little louder "That's serious"

"Yeah well, I wanted different things so we ended it. Was he the one you saw out at the store?" I shook my head

"No" Her eyes lit up "I mean, I don't think so."

"You said 'No' so that means you talked to one of them, who was it?" She asked while sitting back down on the bed.

"Jax" I told her

"Jax? Jackson Teller? What did he want? No wonder why you had that grin on your face"

"He only helped me find the frosting, and then I mentioned Ian because he didn't know who I was. He said that he'll be there tonight with some of his friends."

"Great" She mumbled "Hopefully there won't be any problems with that"

"He told me that his dad and Sarge are friends" I mentioned

"Were friends, Jax's dad passed away years ago. Ian and Jackson grew up together so I'm not worried about him causing a problem tonight, but if his whole club is coming it's not going to end well."

"And why is that?" I asked

"Because wherever the Sons are trouble is right around the corner."


	3. Chapter 3

**Third installment! Let's do this! Please review if you've read this and enjoyed it, or hated it. Either way leave me a quick "like this" comment if you did infact like it and if you hated it write me a quick review saying what you don't like. I'm working hard on this story as of right now and it's my main focus so I'm here to please you as well as get my creative side going. Thank you for the follows and favorites so far! :)xo**

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"Come on he's home!" Misha yelled as she ran into my room and then quickly bolted back through the door, I could hear her heels clicking on the stairs leading to the front door. Ian had taken longer than expected, he was supposed to get here around 3 but instead arrived at 4 which made Donna panic because she didn't want to reheat the dinner she had prepared. After talking to Misha about the Sons earlier she had left to leave me with my thoughts, and also my laptop to do some work so I had more time for myself on this vacation to have some fun. I scrolled back through the photos that were up on the screen in front of me and ran my fingers over the blonde man holding me when I was 7, the leather vest on his shoulders was something that I remember clutching onto before he had left again. That was the last time I had seen my uncle. I sighed while clicking a few more things before saving the work I had been doing other than reminiscing and closing the top of the screen shut.

I slipped my fingers back through my hair as I walked down the steps while Donna was hugging Ian in the hallway. They parted and Misha rubbed her hand up and down her mother's back. Once I was on the bottom step I caught Ian's attention and he raised his eyebrows.

"Well that's a sight for sore eyes" Misha hit her bothers shoulder gently before laughing under her breath "It's good to finally meet you" He said and I smiled as I hugged his built body.

"It's great to meet you too Ian, welcome home"

"Thank you, thanks for taking care of my sister" He whispered against the side of my ear before he pulled away from me and I nodded silently as he smiled. "So when are we eating? I'm starving and Eric wants everyone down at Harry's by 9"

"Well if you weren't late" Donna started to say while pulling her son away from Misha and I, Sarge was trailing his wife and son into the kitchen "Why don't you go clean yourself up and dinner will be ready."

I looked at Misha who still had glistening tears in her eyes and I smiled gently while squeezing her upper arm and she smiled at me "I'm so glad he's home finally."

"Me too Mish, come on" I wrapped an arm around her back while we walked into the kitchen to help Donna put out the food.

After the very big Turkey dinner with cake for desert, Ian and Sarge went off into the backyard to talk and have a cigar while myself, Misha and Donna cleaned up. "So how are things going with Tony?" Donna asked Misha while I washed a plate at the sink.

"He's doing alright, still working at the firm so he can't complain" She said briefly

"So you're on again? I can never keep up"

"We're… together but not really, it's complicated right now" Misha explained and that made me raise an eyebrow, apparently I never knew when they were together or weren't. They had split up more than 4 times during the year that they met but I guess I shouldn't had assumed from the shoulder hickey this morning that they were back together. To be honest, they were better off as friends with benefits.

"How are you doing Abigail, are you seeing anyone?" She asked me while I put the dish down into the rack and shook my head

"I set her up with Brandon tonight"

"Brandon Riley? Really?" Donna asked a little surprised as I turned around to face the women.

"Your daughter likes to set me up with some characters let me tell you" I told her and Donna laughed while shaking her head at her daughter "Do you know Brandon?" I asked her and she nodded

"He's a nice boy, grew up around the block and Ian and him have been friends since they were in diapers, joined at the hip practically" I smiled a bit "I'm sure I don't have to tell you the rules of this house ladies" She said to the both of us and we both shook our heads, we had this talk last time I was here. The rules were simple and not to be shared with Sarge at any point. If we were going to bring a guy back then we had to be quiet and we had to be safe, he also needed to be out before Sarge woke up around ten. Misha brought a guy back last time we were here for the long weekend and the guy had been caught leaving her bedroom, Sarge nearly had a heart attack. "That goes for you Misha especially" She pointed at her daughter who put her hands up with a small smile on her lips.

Donna was an awesome mother and a very good friend to have. She was easy going and she credited her style of parenting from all the amount of pot she smoked in the sixties and early seventies before she met Sarge. She was still a hippie at heart she confessed to the both of us one drunken night when a Mama's and Papa's song came on the radio, and then she proceeded to dance. My mother would have despised Donna, she was everything in a woman that my mother told me to never be like. Donna's a carefree, loving, and an overall happy person because she did what she wanted when she wanted to do it.

Just after 8 we had retreated back to our rooms to get ready for the party tonight. I did change into the small cut out gray-acid wash shorts and then I pulled off the lace top and the bra and pulled on an easy red floral lace bralette before looking through my suitcase for a muscle cut off shirt.

"Someone planning on getting laid tonight or what? Damn" I heard from behind me and I jumped, putting a hand over my rapidly beating chest and turned around.

"Jeez Mish, knock or something" I told her as she shut the door behind her "I'm not wearing just this I'm looking for another shirt."

"No way, you're wearing that" She pointed at my half naked self and I just shook my head.

"There's no way I'm just wearing this to a bar it screams 'desperate fuck'" She laughed then and then walked by me to my bag and grabbed the small white, red and black plaid shirt and pulled it out and handed it to me.

"Where this with it, can't hog the whole spotlight tonight sweetie" She patted my shoulder and I just rolled my eyes. "How do I look?" She asked as I slipped my arms into the sleeves and took in her outfit. She was wearing small black shorts that had a coating on them so they looked leather and a royal blue simple low-scoop tank top, her feet still had on those glittery heels she was obsessed with.

"You look great" I leaned over and pushed the out-of-place dark curl onto the other side of her head and she smiled "Now you look perfect… so you didn't tell me that you and Tony weren't together right now."

"He's giving me time to think about everything" She sighed while sitting down on the bed as I buttoned the shirt just to below my bust line as she continued "So if anything were to happen this week then I shouldn't feel guilty about it… last night at the studio was sort of a goodbye for a while until I can figure out what I want"

"Is he still asking for you to move in with you?"

"No he stopped after the third no, but I know he still wants me there with him. I'm just not ready for that big commitment yet, you know?" I nodded and sat down next to her.

"If he's giving you time to think about everything then that's a good thing. He's not going to be on your back all of the time, asking where you are, what you're doing. If you don't want to be with him then you're going to have to eventually tell him though and then cut ties with him" She nodded and leaned her head against my shoulder as I rubbed her back gently "You know I'll always take your side so don't worry about my opinion okay? As long as your happy I'll be okay… and at the end of the week if you decide that you want to move in with him then we'll figure that out too."

"I don't know what I did without you for so long" She mumbled and I laughed

"Me either" I smiled and she leaned her head back up and looked at me with a big smile "Are you ready to get trashed tonight because I know I am"

"You're meeting Brandon first and then we'll get trashed!" She said while jumping up onto her feet.

"Right. Brandon" I mumbled

"If you don't want to meet him then I'll just hide you tonight, you don't always have to go along with the guys I set you up with"

"No, no I'll meet him. Your mom said he's a nice guy and right about now I need nice"

"Yes you do, and you look hot so there is no reason for you to not have every guy eating out of the palm of your hand tonight, expect my brother"

"Is Ian really off limits?" I asked her "Because he is so much cuter in person"

"Oh stop" She laughed and I couldn't hold the straight face so I burst out into a few giggles and I noticed her eyes turn to the laptop next to me on the bed "Did you finish your work?"

"Not all of it, Max expects the foot work to be done by Friday though so…"

"Talking about a guy who should get off a girls back" she mumbled while turning around

"He's very persistent, you know this already"

"I was working with him yesterday so yeah I know, maybe we can find some more dance moves tonight" She swayed her hips and I smirked "Can I see what you have now?" I nodded while pushing my laptop open and typed in my password and photos popped up on the home screen "Working or looking at photos?" She asked and I rolled my eyes.

"I couldn't think and Jax's vest made me think of my uncle" I told her

"He's cute" She said and I laughed

"He's like 45 now if he's still alive"

"Still cute, wait your uncle was in a motorcycle club?" She asked me "Why didn't I know this?"

"Because it never came up?" I shrugged and clicked out of the page.

"Did he live in Mississippi?" She asked and I shook my head

"I think my dad told me that he lived in Washington around this time, he grew up in California with my grandfather and my dad lived with my grandmother in Mississippi, grandparents got divorced after my dad was born, my dad and him weren't really that great of friends let alone brothers" I put up the work I had been working on and she took the laptop and started to look at it while she tapped her fingers against her thigh, seeing that she was dancing out the moves with her fingers which made me smile.

"This looks good so far, maybe we can work on it again tomorrow when we're not so hungover"

"Or maybe Monday when we really won't be hungover"

"Right. It's going to be a long weekend"

"Sure is" She closed the laptop after that when there was a knock on the door "Come in" I called and the door opened up slowly and Ian poked his head in.

"You ladies just about ready?" Then he pushed the door open all of the way just as we both stood up "Wow" I heard him mutter and Misha laughed.

"She's hot right? See I told you!" Misha said happily towards me.

"Yeah, yeah, thank you" I said and ran my fingers back through my hair to get it out of my face. "Are we taking the jeep?" Misha shook her head.

"It's only a few blocks, we're going to walk. Pretty sure dad would ring all of our necks if we drove drunk home"

"Good thinking sis" Ian said while holding out his hands once I grabbed my ID and slipped it into my back pocket. "Ladies would you do me the honor in accompanying me to the party as my dates tonight?"

"Until we get to the door yes" Misha said while taking her brothers arm and I smiled

"You're so much cornier in person, Skype just doesn't have the same effect" I told him while taking his other arm and he chuckled

"I try my hardest Abby, plus anything for a pretty lady"

"Stop hitting on her" Misha whined "I knew this was going to happen"

"Hey you're the one who said she was hot; I'm not denying that, just going along with what you said Mish"

"Sure, sure. But she's Brandon's tonight"

"Right" He said "I showed him a photo of you the other day and he was real excited to meet you tonight"

"Well don't you three look nice" Donna said while she was wrapped under the arm of Sarge who was looking us all over.

"Have a good time tonight and don't do anything I wouldn't do" Sarge said and Ian laughed and nodded

"So basically I can light a car on fire and we'll be all good dad?" He asked and Sarge chuckled

"Just don't get caught son" I smirked while I listened to the exchange and then we all turned and left the house. The walk was shorter than I expected and it was in the opposite direction of the town square. The parking lot of the bar named Harry's was packed and a line of bikes lined the side wall, that didn't go unnoticed by Ian.

"It's good to know even the outlaws showed up tonight" He muttered out while raking his fingers back through his chopped dark hair "Tonight should end with a bang" He didn't sound annoyed, he actually sounded excited. Maybe he just wanted all of the attention on him like Misha usually did "Oh there's Bran" He said while bringing his arm up and waved over at two tall men near the front door.

I felt my stomach knot up in nerves and I shook out my hand as Ian walked a few paces in front of Misha and I to get to his friend. They hugged quickly and parted when we walked up behind Ian. Brandon's dark green/hazel eyes found me first and he smiled. Oh he was much hotter than his photo. "Bran, this is Abigail, Abby this is Brandon. Have fun" Ian said while patting his friends shoulder with a small laugh and Brandon put his hand out toward me and I took it. His hand was soft surprisingly and he brought my knuckles up to his lips and he ghosted his lips over them gently before letting my hand go.

"It's great to finally meet the infamous Abigail" He told me

"What am I chop liver?" Misha said next to me and Brandon smirked and looked over at her and said a quick Hi which just made me smile wider.

"Call me Abby, it's great to meet you too Brandon" He held out his arm and I slipped my hand onto his muscular bicep and then he looked at Misha.

"Come on Mish" He held out his other arm and Misha gladly took it.

"Such a gentleman" She whispered with a smile and we all walked into the bar with Ian in front of us.

The party was in full swing and a quarter of the whole bar had to be drunk already, which was just going to make tonight that much more interesting. "What would you like ladies?" Brandon asked between the other of us and I swallowed quickly before leaning up against his ear.

"Bacardi and Coke with a lime" He turned his head to look at me just as I went back down onto my heels and he nodded with a smile on his lips and then Misha told him her drink of choice. Brandon let us go to call over one of the three bartenders behind the bar and Misha wrapped an arm around my back and leaned against my ear.

"Judging by the way you're flirting with him, need some space?" She asked and I shook my head while turning my head toward her ear

"I'm taking a page from your book tonight, just have fun and don't think of the consequences" She squeezed my side

"Yes finally! You're on the dark side!" I laughed at her happiness and Brandon turned around and handed us our drinks. "Thank you sir, I think I see Jimmy, I'm going to go say hi, be nice to her" She pointed at Brandon and he nodded.

"Of course, you don't need to tell me twice" Brandon took a sip of his beer and I nodded at Misha when she looked at me before she left us on the side of the bar. "So Abby, Ian tells me you and Misha work together at the studio?" I nodded and leaned up a bit.

"Yeah she's doing the teaching and I'm usually in the background working on the choreography"

"That sounds like a fun job"

"It can be most of the time, especially when we get chosen to choreograph a tour for a singer, we're working on one for a tour this fall. So how does it feel to have your best friend back?" I asked him "I know you two served together but it must be nice to be home"

"Of course, there's nothing better than knowing your best buds just around the corner and safe" I nodded when he stopped the sentence at that and I raised an eyebrow while taking a long sip of my drink. Misha should have told me he wasn't much of a talker, this was going to make me uncomfortable fairly quickly.

"Brandon? I didn't think you were going to be coming tonight" We heard to the side of us and Brandon sighed, guilt washing over his tanned face.

"Hey Tamara, of course I was going to be here tonight. Ian's my best friend"

"Right" She said and then looked at me quickly before looking at Brandon again "Who is this?"

"Tamara this is Abigail, Abigail, this is Tamara" I wiped my hand against my shorts and held out my hand and she looked at it quickly before shaking her head.

"Can I talk to you for a minute" She asked Brandon before she looked back at me "Great meeting you Andrea"

"It's Abigail" I told her but she dismissed it before flipping her black hair over her shoulder and grabbing Brandon's forearm.

"I'll be two seconds, don't go anywhere okay?" He asked me and I just looked at him a little wide eyed. He was just leaving me at the bar to talk to this immature woman? Oh that must be his ex; Misha did tell me that he was recently single. Once Tamara had pulled him away outside to talk, I stood up from the bar and slid and weaved my way through the crowd to find Misha. She had a man's arm wrapped around her shoulders and she was laughing until she saw me and raised an eyebrow. Finally I made my way over to her and she asked where Brandon was.

"Tamara" I told her and her shoulder slumped a bit.

"What did she want?"

"She pulled him outside to talk, he's totally not that cute anymore" I told her and then I watched as Misha's eyes looked behind me and I raised an eyebrow "What?" I asked and a small smile spread over her face.

"Turn around" She made a motion with her fingers and I turned around to be face to face with the reason why Misha's eyes lit up.

"Jax" I whispered, the knots in my stomach coming back in full force.

"Abigail" He smirked before his blue eyes looked to behind me "Good to see you Michelle."

"You too" She said with a small smile before I felt Misha's hand on my back "Mind if I steal her for a second?" She asked and Jax only nodded before he gave a quick hug to the man who had his arm around Misha when I found her. She pulled me away a few steps and smiled wide.

"Brandon is a jackass for doing that and I completely understand if you want to just ditch him for the rest of the night, I know I would. And Jax looks actually really presentable" She looked back over at the short blonde haired man who was without his leather vest tonight and just in a white t shirt and darker jeans than he had on earlier at the store, his white Nike Airs looked brand new. "If you're taking a play out of my book on how to have fun, I would hang out with Jax tonight"

"Are you sure? You said back at the house that the Sons were-" She was quick to interrupt me

"Forget what I said, okay? No consequences tonight remember?" I nodded slowly before taking a sip of my drink "Shoot the rest of that"

"What?"

"Just do it" She said and I swallowed hard before taking the rest of my drink in two gulps "Hey Jax" She called "I think Abby needs another drink" She patted my shoulder and pushed me into his direction softly and I looked back at her with an incredible look on my face "Go get him tiger" She mouthed and I couldn't help but laugh to myself.


	4. Chapter 4

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"So what are you drinking darlin'?" He asked me and I was suddenly fully aware of one of his hands on the side of my waist and his lips were close to my ear as we stood next to the bar.

"Bacardi and coke" He slid his hand over mine that still held my empty glass and suddenly I felt more nervous. Damn Misha for changing her mind.

"Lime?" he asked and I nodded while he held up two fingers and the nearest bartender came over as he leaned over and told him the drink over. He smelt amazing. I wasn't sure if it was the cologne he wore or if it was just his smell but it was definitely something that I could easily get addicted to. "I saw you come in with Brandon Riley, what was that about?" he asked while we waited.

"Mish and Ian set me up with him tonight" my words made him chuckle lightly

"I guess they forgot to mention Tamara is the towns bitch?"

"Yeah they did but I learned that out first hand" His hand squeezed my side gently which lit my nerves higher and I was glad that the light in here was dim because my cheeks felt like they were on fire.

"One drink" He said against my ear and then handed me my glass and I smiled while I tapped my glass against his beer bottle.

"Now do you have any crazy ex-girlfriends that I should be worried about?"

"Crazy yes, but they aren't anywhere near here, just crazy buds who won't stop looking over here" He said while he looked past my shoulder and I looked over at the group of men in the corner all drinking by the pool tables who in fact were all looking are way.

"Are they all in your motorcycle club?" I asked him once I turned my head back towards Jax who was now looking at me instead of his friends.

"They are, I'm sure Michelle told you all about us"

"She was brief, mentioned that she dated Opie years back" He nodded

"She did, probably why she's talking to him right now. How's she doing?" He asked and then took two sips from his bottle.

"She's doing as well as she can I guess, we met 3 years ago and have been best friend since"

"Yeah what's your story? You live in Los Angeles with Michelle I know that much, but you sound southern"

"Unfortunately" I mumbled "I grew up in Mississippi, moved out here when I was 21" I was brief because my story was a lot longer than that and I didn't want to get into it right away with him.

"Mississippi, that's a big choice to up and move" He commented while taking another sip of his beer and I took a big gulp of mine.

"Yeah well I grew up in a small town that I didn't fit in with, I only stayed around because of my dad and then when he passed away I packed up my things and got the hell out of dodge" I took another sip of my drink before I rested it against the side of the bar.

"Sorry to hear, I lost my old man about 16 years ago. Do you have any siblings?" I shook my head

"My mom only wanted a girl and when they had me that was it; my dad wanted a boy so I grew up being a tom-boy mostly because of that"

"Nothing wrong with a girl who can act like a lady but hit like a man when push comes to shove" I grinned just as one of his friends came up and wrapped an arm around his shoulders and pulled him into the other man's shoulder.

"Had to come over when Op said you were hogging the prettiest girl in this bar, I'm Tig" I smiled at him and nodded once

"Abby" I told him over the loud music as he took my hand and kissed my knuckles once he let go of Jax. When Tig didn't let my hand go Jax only rolled his eyes.

"Alright we get it Tiggy, she's pretty but she's also half your age" He let my hand ago but I couldn't stop smiling "Don't worry he's harmless darlin'" Jax whispered against the side of my head as his hand softly slid over my lower back to rest on my side. I had a strange feeling that he was marking his territory by that small action and by judging from the look Tig gave him, I was right.

"Why don't you two join the party brother? Sure the guys would love to meet you" He directed towards me and then looked at Jax as his hand fell onto Jax's shoulder.

"Give me a minute Tig alright? Order another round for the boys" Tig nodded at Jax's words and then gave me wink before turning towards the bar. I shook my head with a small laugh as Jax chuckled and move to stand in front of me again.

"Harmless?" I asked him and he grinned while taking another swing of his beer.

"They all are sweetheart; they're just all suckers for a beautiful girl" he said easily, as if it was a fact.

"Oh stop" I whispered before putting a hand on the side of my very warm face. His hand moved up and softly pulled mine off of my face with ease, his fingers were rougher than Brandon's but it was a nice kind of rough.

"Abby this is our song! Come on!" I heard from behind me as Misha came up and broke up my concentration of the feel of his hands; our fingers let each other's go quickly before she walked up. She grabbed my free hand as I took another sip of my nearly finished drink and put it on the bar. "We said we were going to dance, please? And then you can go back to flirting your tail off"

"Sure, fine" I laughed at her and then looked at Jax "Two seconds and then I'll meet you over with your friends?" He nodded before he leaned down against my ear again.

"I did say I'd wait all night darlin', have fun" He squeezed my side again and I nearly stumbled on my feet when Misha pulled my hand towards the make shift dance floor. The words to "Young, Wild, & Free" By Snoop Dogg and Wiz Khalifa blasted through the speakers of the bar as Misha and I swayed around in our spot on the cement floor. Ever since this song came out a few months ago Misha and I had played it throughout our apartment day and night just to get in the mood to have fun when we'd be having a bum day. That song turned into "We Found Love" By Rihanna. Before Misha could even tell me to stay I was singing the song and dancing around. This was the song I usually worked out at the gym to, anything by Rihanna got me in a pumped up mood. Whoever was working the Jukebox right now was doing a great job, until the third song came on and it was M83, an electronic band that Misha hated, but she stayed out there anyways swaying her hips slowly as she put her hands on my shoulders and we talked.

"So how are things going? You two looked very comfortable"

"You know when you get that knot in your stomach that won't go away no matter how much alcohol you drink? Well that's what's going on right now" She broke out into a huge grin

"Alcohol helps, was that you're second still? Maybe two more and you'll be feeling a lot better. I use to be star struck by Jax too, he's the cutest but something about Op just grabbed my attention"

"Speaking of Opie, what is going on with you two? Seemed a little cozy against that wall" I mentioned and she rolled my eyes and shrugged

"Just talking is all"

"Sure" I told her and she laughed

"Oh stop, he was like my first real boyfriend so we're cool"

"Cool as in…" I wagged my eyebrows up and down

"Stop!" She laughed and wrapped her arms around my neck and I wrapped mine around her slim waist. "If there's any point during the night you want to leave just tell me alright?"

"Why would I want to leave? I'm having fun for the first time in a few weeks" She pulled back from me and smiled

"Good I'm glad, you needed it" I nodded as her arms fell from my shoulders and she took my hand "Shall we?"

"Sure" I told her as I ran my fingers back through my hair and we weaved through people to finally get to our destination by the pool tables. There were a few women hanging around some of the guys of course, a few sitting on the edges of the tables.

"Opie, this is Abigail, Abby, Opie" I smiled at the very tall man and he nodded with a smile

"Great to meet you, Mish won't stop talking about her awesome roommate" He told me and I rolled my eyes while hip bumping Misha softly.

"Oh really? It's good to know she still thinks I'm awesome. It's great to meet you too" I felt eyes on me suddenly just before a hand slid over the middle of my back and a drink was placed in front of my face.

"Thank you Jax" I said as I took the drink from him and he handed one to Misha as well who gave him a smile.

"What were we talking about before the interruption?" He asked as I leaned back against the pool table and he stood in front of me.

His hands. No that's what I had been thinking about. What had we been talking about before Misha grabbed me to dance?

"I forget but I had a feeling I was blushing" He nodded with a smirk on his pink lips

"Oh right, you told me to stop complimenting you"

"Well those weren't my exact words" I told him honestly and then took a much needed sip of my drink "But yes, I did say to stop"

"That'll be a problem because I'm a very honest man"

"I bet you are" I said and he took a long sip of his beer

"So what do you do in L.A?" He asked

"I'm a dancer" His eyebrows rose then

"A dancer? Like what Michelle does?" I nodded

"We work at the same studio but she's a better people person so she's a teacher, I'm behind the scenes working on the choreography"

"Well you definitely know how to capture a man's attention when you're swaying those hips" He said

"Were you watching me Jax?" I asked him and he nodded and I couldn't help but smile

"I couldn't help myself, you can't blame me either darlin'. When you're dancing it's a bit distracting" His free hand fell onto my side again, his fingers moving into the thin material of my button down shirt.

"You're very hands on" I mentioned and he took his hand away from my side almost instantly. Maybe that wasn't the right thing to say when I wanted him to touch me more. I took his hand and placed it back where it was before "I never said it was a bad thing" That brought a smile to his lips again.

"I'll keep that in mind. So about living in Mississippi, why was it so bad that you jetted out and left the first chance you got?" He took a half step closer to me

"It was one of those towns were if you didn't go to church on Sundays you were disowned by the community, it wasn't really my scene"

"A church girl really? I wouldn't have ever thought"

"My mother was very passionate about church and God and all of that, my dad on the other hand was the type to be here on a Sunday morning with a beer in his hand watching baseball. They clashed a lot over that." I sighed and took another drink from my glass.

"What happened to your mother, is she still alive?"

"She died when I was 14, she was sick for a long time but that didn't stop her from doing everything in the community. My dad gave up going to church after she died and I was sort of happy, but high school was tough because I didn't get along with most people because we were the outcasts."

"High school's never easy, I got my GED, couldn't deal with school. But if I had to go to church every Sunday I'd probably gauge my eyes out"

"I contemplated it a few times actually" He smirked

"I'm glad you didn't" my eyes danced over his face again and I smiled

"Right about now, so am I" I cautiously brought my hand up and captured the strands of short blonde hair and pushed it back behind his ear "So what's up with this hair?"

"What do you mean, what's wrong with my hair?" He asked with a raised eyebrow

"You just don't see many men with long blonde hair anymore, unless it's dyed otherwise"

"You're kidding me right? You think I dye my hair? Darlin' c'mon you're wounding my ego" I smirked

"I never said I didn't like it Jax, actually I like it a lot. Have you ever just shaved it all off?"

"Couple years back, sort of needed a change, plus it was past my damn shoulders" He took a long swing of his beer and raked his fingers back through his hair casually.

"My mother always kept my hair short when I was growing up, it was very liberating when I could finally grow it out past my shoulders, even now I have issues with cutting it."

"Liberating, that's a word I'd definitely describe how I felt when I cut it all off. Maybe if you stick around you'll see an old photo of me with no hair"

"Maybe" I smiled "Remember I am only here for a week"

"Which reminds me, what are you doing tomorrow?" He asked and I shrugged after swallowing the last sip of my drink and put the glass down on the pool table.

"No clue, though I'm sure I'll be very hungover if I don't slow down soon" A small smile played on his lips

"Well if you're interested, we're having a barbeque over at the club house but the thing is you can't bring Brandon Riley"

"I don't think that'll be a problem" I told him and he chuckled "But that sounds like a good time, I'll see what Misha has in store for tomorrow"

"She's going; Op asked her when we were at the bar"

"Oh so you already sort of knew what my answer was going to be huh?" I asked him and he shrugged

"You could have turned it down; maybe you don't like barbeques or something"

"I love barbeques, but what if I said I had to catch up on work, what then?" I asked him as my hand fell down onto his hand that was still by my hip on the pool table, and my finger tip traced over the two rings on his fingers.

"Then I'd… have Michelle blind fold you and bring you over to the club house?"

"Smooth, so you're willing for her to kid nap me? She's not driving my jeep, she's an awful driver" I laughed and he grinned

"Then I'd come by and pick you up darlin', I'd really like to see you at the barbeque" His hand turned over as his fingers traced over my palm.

"Then I'll be there" I told him "But only if you dance with me tonight"

"Dance?" He asked and I nodded "I don't dance"

"Then unfortunately you won't be seeing me tomorrow, maybe not for the rest of the week, oh imagine that" I said in a small sarcastic way with a hint of a smile on my lips. I blamed my flirting ways on the alcohol now, it was affecting my better judgment but it was a lot of fun to tease him because for some reason I had a feeling that every girl was willing to do what he said when he said it. I wasn't the type of girl to just take my orders; I liked to keep things interesting.

He leaned closer to me again, the side of his face grazing against mine as he spoke "You're trouble aren't you?"

"It's just one dance Jax, if you really wanted to see me tomorrow then…" His fingers that were tracing patterns into my palm caught my hand now as he started to pull me away from the pool table and toward the heavily packed dance floor. I could hear one of his friends call out "Look at him, Jackie's already pussy whipped!" If he did hear it, he wasn't acknowledging it but I'm sure he would have a few choice words to whoever said that.


	5. Chapter 5

**Thank you to all of you who reviewed, favorited, and follow this story! Keep it up and I'll keep writing until my fingertips go numb. xo**

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"I know you know how to move Jax" I told him as he swayed a bit by himself as his hand stayed on my waist, the side of his jaw against my cheek as I spoke into his ear.

"And how do you know that?" He asked "I don't dance."

"Well don't think of it as dancing, don't think at all" My hand ran up over his tattooed forearm and stopped when I cupped my hand over the side of his neck, my thumb brushing against his blonde scruff colored jaw. "Come on Jax" I begged against his ear and I felt his hand clench against my waist. I dropped my hand from his neck and turned around to press my back against his chest, his hand sliding down onto my hip.

I swayed my hips back against his for a few beats of the music and still he wasn't moving with me. Closing my eyes, I unbuttoned the shirt I wore to show off the red lace floral bralette that Misha wanted me to just wear to the bar tonight and then turned around to face him again. His eyes caught mine after they were checking out what I was wearing underneath my open shirt and I guided his hand that was on my hip up a bit so his rough fingers touched the burning skin at my side. I was hoping my plan would work to show a little skin and bribe him into moving a bit more and as his hand moved from my waist to my back under my shirt to pull me against his hard body, I knew that I had won this round.

My arms stayed loose around his neck as we danced to the slow heavy beat of Bad Company's "Bad Company". His other hand pressed against my side, his fingers rubbing into the skin. I wondered if he could feel how hot I was right now. I was surprised that I wasn't sweating buckets, which was thanks to the air conditioning. My arms loosened from his neck more until my hands were sliding down to his chest as our hips moved against each other's slowly. When the beat kicked up I spun around in his arms so that his hand was pressed to my bare tanned taut stomach. I felt his bicep muscles tighten against my shoulder when the song died down and I stopped swaying my ass against his groin.

When another Bad Company song came on, "Rock and Roll Fantasy" I turned back around to go back to Misha and his group of friends but his arms encircled my waist as he pulled me back against his front again and his lips pressed to the shell of my ear "Where do you think you're going?"

I leaned back against his shoulder as he leaned his head down so he could hear me when I answered him "The songs over, you only had to dance once Jax."

"One more" I smirked at his words and brushed my lips against his cheek before starting to dance against him again. His head stayed low against the side of mine while we danced a bit more appropriately this time. When the chorus came through the speakers of the bar in a loud fashion, he sang the words and I smiled while keeping my head against his shoulder. I was such a sucker for classic rock and roll, and a guy who actually knew the words to one of the songs I listened to daily while growing up in my dad's garage was even better.

I had danced with plenty of men, considering it was my profession; it was more than a handful, but there was something about the way Jax's body fit against the back of mine and how his hands knew the places that they needed to be and how his hips moved in sync with mine that made me think of things other than dancing. That never happened with another man, not even my ex and I guess that's saying a lot about him considering he hated to dance even in the confinement of his house. But there was something about his way around my body that was making my lower abdomen burn as if I was going to just let him put that fire out. My body was going to disobey my mind if I let him dance with me for another song after this.

"I'm going to hit the men's babe" He said against my ear and I nearly let my mind just say screw it and let my body take control when he called me 'babe'.

I turned and nodded once I was facing him "I'm going to head to the bar for another" he nodded before leaning his face down by my ear again.

"Don't run away?"

"And where would I go?" I asked him with a small smile "Go to the bathroom, I'll be here when you finish" he pressed his lips to my cheek before turning and walking away. I swallowed hard while watching him and finally moved from my spot to get to the bar. I leaned against the counter top and waited for the bartenders to take the orders from customers that were before me.

"I was wondering where you went" I heard behind me and I turned my head and sighed.

"You went off with your ex-girlfriend so I thought I'd just excuse myself" I told Brandon as he took another gulp of what looked like to be some sort of dark alcohol.

"She asked for her things back"

"I don't really care" I said while leaning against the bar a bit more.

"So you're with Jax Teller? I saw you two dancing, how long have you known him?" He asked, still not giving up. I turned my head and looked at him now.

"Look it was great to meet you earlier but this isn't going anywhere, I took offense to you just leaving me alone at the bar to talk to your ex-girlfriend"

"Sorry" He slurred as his dark green/hazel eyes roamed down my body "Can I get you a drink?"

"No, I'm not interested" I told him and turned my head to look back at the bar to see when the bartender was going to come over. I felt his large hand fall down onto my lower back and I pushed his hand away instantly. "Seriously, what did I just say?" I asked him and he downed the rest of his drink and put the glass down on the table harder than he should have.

"You came here to be with me tonight, be with me" He said and proceeded to wrap his arms around my waist tightly. I pushed against his shoulders to try and get him off of me.

"Let me go, Brandon I swear. Let me go" I struggled against his strong hold before I saw a taller man with a longer beard walk over once he saw what was happening.

Opie put his hands down on Brandon shoulders roughly "I think the lady said to let her go"

"Op this doesn't concern you" Brandon said as Brandon's arms stayed just as tight around me and this time he ducked his head down to kiss me and I turned my head as Opie jabbed Brandon in the side of the ribs and instantly he let me go and clutched at his side.

"Can't say I didn't give you a fucking shot" Opie said and then he looked at me "You okay?

"Fine" I said while fixing my unbuttoned shirt and tousled my hair back with my fingers.

"Have fun being a crow eater" Brandon mumbled as he walked away and I raised an eyebrow. Crow eater? What in the holy hell was that?

"You sure you're alright?" Opie asked and I nodded

"Yeah thanks for that" I said while the bartender walked over once he saw me.

"Don't worry about it" He said as he slid next to me at the bar.

"What will it be?" He asked and I leaned over the bar a bit to tell him the order but thought of a great idea before I spoke.

"Brandon Riley wanted me to ask if his card is still on tab." The bartender nodded and I smirked and looked at Opie "What are you guys drinking? Drinks of Brandon tonight"

Opie chuckled and told the bartender his order for the whole table and I turned and counted out 11 people and told the bartender 14 shots of tequila, in which he had to put on a tray after pouring them. He then poured me another Bacardi and coke and I got another beer for Jax before I thanked him with a big smile as he run up the huge order of drinks. I grabbed the tray and thankfully I got to the pool tables with all of them still intact because of my first job as a waitress.

"Oh lass you didn't have to" One of the men said as I walked around the tables and people took a shot.

"Don't worry about it" I told him

"Names Chibs" he said and I smiled at him before telling him my name quickly before passing out the rest of the shots and finally Jax was back and his eyebrows were raised in confusion.

"You bought them more alcohol?" He asked me and I shook my head

"Brandon was nice enough to let me use his tab" I smirked while he grabbed his beer and a shot and then I grabbed mine and put the tray down.

"Riley?"

"Long story, I'll tell you it later"

"Toast!" I heard Tig say before he held up his tequila shot and I turned my attention over to him "To this beautiful woman who Jax will hopefully keep around because if he doesn't I'll keep her" Jax only chuckled beside me "To Abigail" he said and then the rest said it before we all downed our shots. I shook out my head a bit after from the strong burn and taste and put the empty shot glass down on the pool table.

"Tequila! You should have warned me" Misha said as she came over to me and wrapped an arm around my waist.

"You should have known better" I told her and she nodded while laughing under her breath "How are you doing?"

"Pretty decent" She smiled wide and I raised an eyebrow before taking a long sip of my drink "So did Jax bring up the barbeque tomorrow? I wasn't sure if you wanted to go…"

"Yeah of course and yes he did, I'm excited"

"I wonder why" she wagged her eyebrows and I rolled my eyes and let out a short laugh.

"Go back to Op, he looks lonely" I told her and she nodded before kissing the side of my face and walking over to him and he moved his arm from his lap because he was sitting against the other pool table and she made herself snug against him.

"So what's the story?" Jax asked while his arm slid up over my shoulders and pulled me snug against his side as well.

"Brandon decided to not take a hint at the bar, so I ordered a shit load of drinks on his tab"

"What'd he do?" Jax asked

"Nothing, Opie made the save when he got a little rough"

"Rough? He got rough with you?" Jax asked, his voice lowering a bit as his arm let my shoulders go and he looked over at Opie

"Hey, I'm okay" I said to him but he wasn't paying attention so I put my drink down and brought my hands up to the sides of his neck and he looked down at me "I'm okay, plus his bar tab will be well over five hundred dollars by the end of the night thanks to us. No harm no foul right?" I used his words that he said to me at the store earlier.

"Are you sure?" He asked, his clear blue eyes looking me over and I nodded

"I'm perfect, now have fun"

"Yes ma'am" He smirked and tipped his beer up against his lips as my hands slid away from his neck and then another man's arm was wrapped around my shoulders.

"I was serious about what I said Jax, she's a lot of fun, keep her" I felt my cheeks get hot again at Tig's words.

"I don't plan on letting her go anytime soon Tig so don't worry your drunk ass, brother"

"Hey where'd you get that necklace?" Tig asked as he was looking at the pendant on the end of my necklace and my hand moved up and wrapped my fist around the small blue crystal.

"Family heirloom, why?" I asked and he eyed the necklace again before raising his eyebrow

"Family?" He asked "Just seen it before somewhere." There was no way he had seen the same exact blue triangle crystal pendant. Only my family had these, it was an ancestry thing through my father's side. I got mine from my dad when he passed away; the only other people who had them were his father and his brother. Both were dead, actually one was missing but I could just assume he was dead.

"Okay Tigger, pretty sure I can't keep her if you're creeping her out man" Tig let his arm go from my shoulders but before he did that he kissed the top of my head and gave Jax a pointed look who just nodded once at him. "Seems as if your more popular with them than my ex ever was" He chuckled

"I supplied alcohol and then introduced myself, heard that was always a good way to get over with people"

"Smart thinking but I don't think it was the alcohol babe" I felt the burning sensation in my lower stomach again and grabbed my drink to take a long gulp.

"So why wasn't your ex popular with them?" I asked just to change the subject

"Uh, she was well, not a very healthy person" He tried to sugarcoat and I raised my eyebrows

"Not healthy? Maybe it's a little too soon for the whole ex talk"

"No, no. Okay, well she's my ex-wife Wendy"

"Wife? Wow, a little young to have an ex-wife don't you think?"

"Yeah I know. But she was around the clubhouse all of the time, ended up in a fucked up relationship with her, got married when we were drunk one night and she ended up…" He stopped then and I knew what he was going to say. My hand slid over onto his arm gently and my fingers squeezed the skin over the ink there.

"She was pregnant?" He nodded

"She was big into crank unfortunately; she said she quit it so I believed her." He chuckled lightly in a sarcastic way before he continued "She overdosed a few months in, lost the kid. I filed for divorce the next morning"

"Shit" I whispered "I'm sorry that happened." He looked at me and nodded with a small smile

"Well other than that depressing subject, shit, that took a turn for the worse didn't it?"

"I pried, I'm sorry"

"Hey" He said while moving his hand to my side and pulled me into him "Don't ever be sorry"

"Yes sir" I whispered and he smirked and kissed my forehead as I wrapped an arm around his back and hugged him with my head against his shoulder.

"Don't they look fucking perfect, Jackie! Don't let Hap near her" Chibs yelled over to us in his scottish accent and Jax only shook his head.

"Already fucking thought of it, brother" He said back to his friend and I pulled back a bit to look up at him.

"Who's Hap?" I asked him

"Just another buddy of mine, he's got a thing for cute blondes"

"Perfect" I said sarcastically "Just what I need, another biker trying to get into my pants" Jax laughed at my comment

"You'll get used to it if you stick around, especially tomorrow, you'll meet more of the guys. But don't worry Darlin', I'll keep you safe"

"I bet you will."

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"Should you be driving that thing when you've been drinking?" I asked Jax two hours later while we all stood outside because the bar was closing.

"I stopped drinking at midnight for a reason, unlike some people" He said while he watched Tig and a bigger man named Bobby stumble our way.

"Right" I said while crossing my arms over my chest while I watched him throw his leg over his motorcycle. "I don't think I'm sober enough to ride bitch."

"You're sober enough" he said "Fuck you don't even need to be sober, come on" He held out the extra helmet towards me and I took in a deep breath before taking it from him.

"Go on Abs it's not going to bite, haven't you rode on one of those before anyways?" Misha asked while stumbling next to Opie to get onto his bike.

"My dad's" I commented in a whisper. The last time I was riding bitch on the back of a bike was 10 years ago. "Fuck it" I said before putting the black helmet down on my head and pushed the clip in securely. I put my hand down on Jax's shoulder and got on behind him.

"There ya go babe, so you've rode before?" He asked and I nodded

"My dad and his brother were really into bikes when they were kids, my uncle was in a motorcycle club but my dad took another route in life but still worked on bikes, I rode with him a few times"

"Where was your uncle's motorcycle club at, Mississippi?" He asked while starting up the bike and I felt the cool vibrations under me.

"No, it was in Washington somewhere; don't ask what the name was either. Last time I saw him was when I was 6" He nodded as I wrapped my arms around his stomach but he moved them down until my hands reached his belt. I swallowed hard and he pushed the kickstand away before pulling away from the parking lot. It was easy getting the feel of riding on the back of a motorcycle again and it felt freeing in a way. The wind whipped my hair back as he drove back to The McKinnon house.

Sadly it wasn't that much of a drive and before I knew it Opie and Jax were pulling up to the curb of the big red house at the end of Dean Road. I pulled the helmet off of my head after I stood up from the bike and handed it to him. Glancing over at Opie and Misha I quickly averted my eyes with a smile forming on my lips. I knew eventually they would start getting friendly again; they had been practically on top of each other for the last hour of the night. For the last hour Jax had somehow cleared one of the pool tables and we played a few games, I only won twice because I figured out he was taking it easy on me after he purposely hit the eight ball in when he wasn't supposed to and told him to stop treating me like a girl.

Jax chuckled then while shaking his head and stood up from his bike once he shut it off and pushed the kickstand down "Let me walk you to the door, give them some privacy."

He slid his arm over my shoulders again and I wrapped my over his lower back while keeping my hand on the side of his waist while we walked. I definitely wasn't drunk but I knew that a hangover was in my future if I didn't drink a few glasses of water before falling asleep. "Thanks for that one drink" He said once we were at the steps of the white porch.

"Thanks for the one dance" He grinned and pulled me into his warm body. After hours of being in a bar he still smelled perfect I just didn't get it.

"I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Technically you'll be seeing me again today"

"Okay Miss efficient" I smirked and hit his side gently which made him chuckle again.

At one point during the night after another round of tequila shots on Brandon, Bobby pulled me aside when Jax went to the men's room with Opie and said that he had never seen Jax laugh as much as he did tonight when he was with me. Bobby told me that life had been hard recently, but there was more shit Jax had to deal with on a regular basis that Bobby said would "drive me to a bullet in the mouth" and those were his exact words.

I hugged him a little tighter before letting go with a sigh. Every good night had to come to a close at some point and I really didn't want to look like a zombie tomorrow when I saw him again. "I should probably head up" He nodded and slid his arm away from my shoulders and his ring covered fingers ran over the sides of my neck before he pressed his lips to my forehead again.

"I guess that means I have to let you go" Jax said

"Only for like 15 hours" I whispered "Then I'm all yours"

"I like the sound of that more than I should babe" I smiled and brought my hands up to his wrists and held onto them and he leaned down. Oh god I wanted to kiss him, I've wanted to kiss him all fucking night. But I wasn't sure if I could just stop kissing him when I started.

"Jax" I whispered and he nodded as he leaned down more until I could feel his warm breath tickling my own parted lips "Don't kiss me."

"What?" He asked me a little confused as he pulled his head up.

"I said don't kiss me… because I'm not sure if I could stop at just that tonight" The confusion dropped from his face and now he had a shit-eating grin on his lips.

"Oh really?"

"I'm serious and judging from the way you've been looking at me like I'm some prey you're going to eat, you feel the same way and I think maybe because we had a great night that we shouldn't push it there just yet"

"Eat you? I want to do more than eat you darlin'" He whispered lowly and I held my breath, my fingertips tightening around his wrists "If I had it my way I'd have you at my place right now fucking devouring you"

"Oh" I whispered, taking in a heavy breath as his lust filled blue eyes stayed on mine

"But if you want to wait then I'll go at your pace babe, you just have to throw me a sign" I was regretting my decision because I wanted him more than words could describe right now.

"I… um, okay" He smirked and pulled his hands away from the sides of my neck and my hands dropped to my sides "Yeah, okay my place, I mean pace" I stumbled on the words after finally finding the words when my mind blanked from his teasing "So expect me there around 5…"

"I'll see you then" He winked before turning and walking back over the cut grass and onto the sidewalk. I shook my head out and looked over at Misha who was just finishing up with Opie. Biting down on my bottom lip, I looked back over at Jax who had just started up his bike. It was only the first night in Charming and I had it bad for one outlaw named Jax Teller, how did this happen?


	6. Chapter 6

**Crazy quick updates because like I said in the previous chapter, I can't stop writing. If any of you were wondering how I got the concept of this story, go check out Noah Gundersen's new album "Ledges". One of the songs on the album is named "Liberator" but I took bits and pieces from every song and got the inspiration for this story. Thanks again for the amazing reviews! xo**

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Misha ended up falling asleep in my bed last night because I had to help her up the stairs, she kicked and hogged the bed sheets the whole night while made me just sleep on the love seat couch against the far wall. I slept like a baby for 5 hours and when Misha stumbled on the bed sheets that had been thrown to the floor I was pulled out of my dream state to watch her stumble around the dark room to find the bathroom. I shook my head and rubbed my fingers against my eye before turning over onto my back.

"What time is it?" I asked and I heard her gasp quickly

"What are you doing in my room?" She asked and I rolled my eyes

"Actually it's the guest bedroom, do you not remember me practically carrying you upstairs? You complained because you wanted to snuggle"

"Oh" She shook her head while combing her fingers back through her messy brown hair "Sort of, it's very fuzzy after that second shot of tequila… it's just after 9 by the way" I nodded and pushed myself to sit up as she walked into the bathroom and shut the door.

I wasn't hungover in the slightest, but that was thanks to having two aspirins and then two glasses of ice cold water before I fell asleep. I couldn't even shake Misha awake to do the same so I just let her sleep, knowing full-well that she was going to be feeling like hell this morning. As Misha opened up the bathroom door, her hand against the side of her head she sighed "I made out with Opie last night didn't I?" She asked and I could only nod.

"I was surprised you didn't end up going home with him last night" Misha fell down onto the bed and shook her head.

"I guess last night was a success then, how are you feeling?" She asked while I stood up from the couch and grabbed a new pair of underwear, my black Nike pro shorts and a sports bra.

"I feel fine, a little tired and sore from you kicking me"

"Sorry" She sighed and then I pulled the drapes back to welcome the sunlight in which brought out a loud groan from Misha and she wrapped the sheets around her face "It's too bright"

"You need an omelet and some water"

"Water sounds great" She said before her eyes finally got adjusted to the light and she pulled the sheets away from her face "Are you going out for a run?"

"Yeah, we don't have the studio at our expense so I thought a few runs during the week to keep up was fine"

"Maybe I'll join you tomorrow"

"Or maybe Tuesday considering we're going to the Barbeque tonight"

"Right, shit. Maybe I should make something"

"You told Jax you were bringing extra burger patties and a salad, and whatever we were going to be drinking, we'll run to the store after I get back and shower"

"I'm so glad you remember all of this" I nodded while watching her slowly push herself to sit up "I'm going to go shower and sober up because I think I'm still drunk" I smirked with a nod as she started to fix the mess of a bed she created while I entered the bathroom and shut the door. Pulling my hair up into a tight ponytail, I stripped and washed up a bit before pulling on the clothes I had brought in with me. Leaving the bathroom, I grabbed short black socks and pulled on a dark purple spandex work out top. I slipped my feet into my running Nike's and left the bedroom.

Entering the kitchen, Ian was nursing his face in his hands at the table with a bowl of cereal in front of him and a tall glass of water next to that. I opened up the fridge and grabbed a bottled water and started to drink it before he looked over at me. "How are you even alive enough to go running?" He asked

"I wasn't that drunk last night I guess, do you need some aspirin?" I asked and he shook his head and I downed the rest of the bottle before tossing it into the recycling bin by the door.

"Just took three waiting for them to kick in any minute now" I patted his shoulder with a small smile

"I'll be back in an hour, Misha's up taking a shower nursing a hangover too" He nodded and put his hands back over his face once I was leaving the kitchen.

The next door neighbors were cutting the grass so that was the first thing I smelt when I closed the front door behind me. But the weather wasn't too hot, it was just above 70 but I was sure the temperature would be rising throughout the day. I started jogging at a slow pace the way we walked towards Harry's last night because I knew that there were trees and probably a trail I could go through. I was correct with my assumption once I got to the outskirts of the woods and started off at my regular jogging pace.

This was the time for myself that I could clear my head and get my thoughts in order, but usually I took a break because I had a view at the top of a hill to look over in Los Angeles. My surrounding would have to do and in its own way it was serenely peaceful. I only passed a few cyclists and I was half way through with the short trail. I guess everyone was nursing hangovers this morning, probably because it felt like half the damn town was at the bar last night. I wondered how Brandon felt this morning, and how empty his bank account was. A small smiled played on my lips as I sprinted towards the end of the trees and to the opening of the sidewalk.

I stopped once I was out and looked around trying to find something familiar while catching my breath. I narrowed my eyes at the shop across the street that was empty and raised an eyebrow. Looking both ways and once a car passed, I jogged across the street and stopped at the window and watched as a woman in her mid-thirties danced around on her ballet flats. I remember seeing this place because Misha brought me here last summer to show off the places she grew up; this was her dance studio growing up.

I never had the privilege of growing up in a dance studio, but the first time I saw Dirty Dancing, Footloose and Flash Dance I knew what I wanted to do with my life. It's silly, thinking back that movies were my inspiration to choose this career but it was the truth. In Picayune, we had a dance studio but they only taught ballroom dancing and the occasional jazz. I was interested in hip hop dancing, in really feeling yourself when you danced. I envied the girls in music videos that could dance and feel that freedom. So I practiced my ass off in my room and in my backyard nearly every day. I was kicked out of a sock-hop dance at the high school when I was 16 because my dancing was too racy. I wasn't doing anything crazy, I was just having fun.

Picayune meant petty, and worthless. And that's what I thought of the town and all of the people that got trapped there. Everyone has a choice and it took me a long time to figure out that I could have left when I turned eighteen. I could have. But there were two men keeping me there, one was my father and the other was my ex Freddy. Freddy and I dated throughout high school, he was the captain of the lacrosse team his senior year so we only stopped dating that year but soon enough after graduation he took me on a date and we were hooked again. We moved in together when we were nineteen, and a few months later he proposed and I said yes because I was brainwashed into thinking dreams didn't come true for girls like me.

After he went through the police academy and joined the force he changed into a man I didn't recognize. He'd work double shifts, pull overtime and when he finally had time for me we'd argue. The first night he got physical with me I could agree was my fault because I provoked him. The second time he came home from work drunk, he had been out at the bar with a few of his cop friends, he pushed me against a wall not knowing his own strength and gave me a concussion. After the fifth time, I stayed with my dad for a weekend just to get away from him.

He apologized like all men do when they know they've been wrong but then it happened a few more times and eventually it got to a point where he was coming home and just picking fights over nothing. There was one morning in which I should have just left but I was stupid, I know that now, I should have left that morning when he had finally fallen asleep but I was too shaken up and numb to even think of packing my things. When my dad's funeral was finally over it was sort of a reality check. I couldn't go to my dad's anymore to avoid Freddy. I couldn't go anywhere because he was everyone's friend and he was one of the best cops in the town within 2 years. I packed three suitcases that night when Freddy went to work and tossed everything into my car and left.

I didn't give him a way to contact me, I ditched the phone at some diner in Texas when he wouldn't stop calling. It had been 3 years since I left that town and all of the worthless people in it, and I couldn't have been happier. I finally stuck up for myself, met Misha the third day I was in Los Angeles and was hired at the dance studio she worked at a few days after. I was the receptionist at first but eventually once Maxwell learned that I could dance, he promoted me to help out with Misha's dance classes and then I was Max's right hand man with the work he did for different tours around the world. A lot had happened work-wise in the past 3 years and it was a lot of hard work but it was all worth it.

"Can I help you?" I heard to the left side of me and I was shaken out of my thoughts to look over at the women who I had been looking at through the window.

"Oh no, thank you…"

"You just looked a little lost out here, are you sure you don't need any help sweetie?" She asked and I shook my head.

"No really, I'm a dancer myself, you're great" I told her and she smiled wide

"Why thank you. You know we're hiring if you're interested"

"I'm only here for a week, vacation and such. But thank you" She nodded and smiled before closing the door and walking back inside. I must have spaced out enough for her to notice, oh that's embarrassing. Taking in a quick few breaths, I turned away from the studio and started back on my jog into the town's square. Clearing my head obviously wasn't going to be happening on this run, the dance studio here just made me think of all the shitty times I had back home. I heard a few wolf-whistles once I passed a few older men having a cigar outside of a shop but I ignored them.

When I passed the Rite-Aid a small smile played on my lips as I slowed down and came to a stop when I saw two bikes against the curb. Raising an eyebrow, I turned around and was face to face with the man who I hoped one of those bikes belonged too.

"We've got to stop running into each other like this darlin'" I rolled my eyes and took a small step back.

"I had a feeling one of those was yours, what are you doing here so early?" I asked just as another man walked out struggling with a bunch of plastic bags, he had a leather Sons of Anarchy cut on too. "Big bad bikers on food duty today?"

"Well it's good to know that the alcohol wasn't why you were teasing me last night" He commented and then looked back at the other man he was with "Half-sack not in the front seat, in the back kid". Half sack? I wasn't even going to ask.

"Me teasing you?" I asked and he looked back at me with a grin and opened his arms to me and I shook my head "I'm dirty and gross from running"

"Does it look like I care, I've been working at the damn garage all morning" He slid his arms around my shoulders and I hugged him with my arms snaked around his waist "Besides I like it dirty"

"Jax!" I laughed and pulled away while hitting his chest and he chuckled. The other man came back from the truck that was parked next to the two bikes and I glanced at the man who was in the front seat, it was Bobby and he caught my eyes and smiled over at me before I gave him a small wave.

"Jax we forgot those plastic forks Gemma wanted us to pick up" Half Sack said and Jax sighed

"Then go get them" Jax said slightly annoyed and when he didn't attempt to move he looked over at Half Sack "I said to go get them prospect"

"Right, right" I laughed and smiled at him before the young man turned around and walked back into the store.

"Prospect?" I asked

"Sort of a new guy to the club, until he pays his dues he's not officially patched in" I nodded in understandment.

"How long does that usually take?"

"A year, he's an alright guy, just a little slow" I smiled "Missing one nut too"

"Oh so that's why…" I started laughing then as he nodded "I'm not even going to ask how that unfortunate thing happened"

"It's not that long of a story but really I don't want to talk about his shit right now. Are you still coming tonight?"

"Wouldn't miss it, Mish forgot all about it until I reminded her this morning"

"She was trashed last night, she remember hooking up with Op?" He asked

"Yeah" I nodded "How are your guys doing?"

"Hungover but that's an everyday thing babe" He shoved his hand into his front pocket before pulling out his pack of cigarettes and put one between his lips and pushed the small carton back into his pocket before lighting it up. I licked over my bottom lip and crossed my arms over my chest casually.

"I should probably head back; I still have work to do before the party tonight so…"

"Working on a vacation, isn't that against the rules or something?" He asked while raking his fingers back through his slicked back short blonde hair and I nodded.

"I guess so but my boss is sort of a hard ass and won't stop emailing me until I give him something, I'd rather if he didn't call me all night"

"Leave your phone at Michelle's then if he's going to ride your ass" he blew the smoke out through his parted lips and I was a little hypnotized by those sweet lips again.

"If only it were that easy Jax" I watched as Half-sack came back out of the store with another plastic bag full of those flimsy forks. I dropped my arms from their crossed position under my bust and smiled at Jax again "I'll see you tonight" He flicked his cigarette to the side like he must of done over thousand times before and his hand reached down for mine and he brought my knuckles up to his lips, both of his hands holding onto mine gently still.

"Need a ride back?"

"Considering I've jogged through the woods and all the way back here, wouldn't that be cheating if I stopped now?"

"You went through the trail in the woods?" He asked as his fingers clenched mine for a brief second and I nodded.

"Why what's wrong with the woods, other than barely anyone going through there this morning?"

"It's just not safe darlin', if you go out on another run don't go that way alright?"

"Yeah sure" I whispered while he kissed my hand again and then let it go and I took in a deep breath. He gave me a wink before going over to his bike and hopping on. "Actually Jax" I said while walking over to him "I'd like that ride." A huge smile spread over his face as he grabbed his helmet from the handlebars and handed it back to me.

"Hop on darlin'" I gladly did after putting the helmet on. Throwing my tanned leg over the back of the bike and straddled the leather seat behind him. My hands stayed on his sides before he turned the motorcycle on and looked over at Half Sack and nodded "I'm going to go bring her back to her house, take that shit back and unpack it for later, got it?" Half Sack only nodded before he started up his own bike and pulled away, the truck following behind him. I slid my hands down onto his belt and gave it a small tug. "Comfortable?" He asked as he turned his head and I leaned up against his exposed ear.

"I'd rather be in front of you, not behind" I whispered

"That teasin' is gonna get you in trouble later, keep it up Abby" I giggled and pressed my lips against his cheek before he turned his smiling face forwards and pulled out of his parking spot.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7! Have a great sunday and remember to Review, Fav, and Follow! xo**

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"What kind of patties did I tell him I was getting?" Misha asked as she skimmed her manicured finger over a box and I shrugged.

"You didn't say a specific brand, just get these it's a bigger box" She nodded while picking up the box and placing it down into our shopping cart.

Thankfully after Jax dropped me off at the house, I took a long shower and changed into what I wanted to wear instead of what Misha put out for me on my bed. It was simple blue cut off shorts, a white sleeveless surplice crop top that showed off just a little bit of skin under my belly button and I grabbed a black shadow-striped cardigan to go over that because I knew eventually it would get chillier once the sun went down. I even straightened my hair afterwards and Misha was happy with my choice

It was just after 4:30 when we left the house to go to the huge supermarket on the other side of town for the things we were going to be bringing to the Sons barbeque. I had finished my work for the week after my shower to get Max off of my back and I had yet to hear back from him on what he thought. If he didn't like one thing about it, he'd trash the whole dance so I was nervous to say the least. I didn't want to have to do it all over from scratch like he had me do multiple times before I got it the way he wanted it.

"I think we need a few of these" Misha said while we stopped down another aisle and I looked over at her and shook my head

"Maybe for yourself" I told her and she raised an eyebrow while putting a hand on her hip

"Really? Because from the look of how you and Jax were ogling each other out on his bike today, he wants it"

"That doesn't mean I'm going to give it to him" I grabbed the extra box of condoms from her hand and put it back on the shelf.

"It so does. If not tonight then by the end of the week, you'll need those" She grabbed the pack again and tossed it into the cart.

"Magnums" I mumbled and Misha smirked "Should I even ask how you know his size?" I asked her and she just laughed

"I've heard a few things, don't worry they'll fit" I swallowed hard and gripped the bar on the cart a little tighter.

"Whatever, it's still not going to happen" I told her while looking into the cart. We had very weird selected items, and it definitely looked like a man's shopping order. Burgers, two cases of beer, a huge bowl of fresh salad with three bottles of dressings, and two packs of condoms.

"I think that's it, Gem will be happy I actually remembered to bring food this time"

"Gem?" I asked "Whose Gem?"

"Gemma Teller, Jax's mom." I remembered hearing Half Sack say her name but I didn't ask at the time who he was talking about. Jax's mom was going to be there. Then those condoms needed to be put back on the shelf now. There was no way I was going to sleep with Jax tonight if his mother was there; she'd think I was some whore. "Don't worry, she'll like you" Misha said.

"What?"

"You just gave me one of those 'oh shit' faces. Gemma is a hard ass, some call her the Queen of the Sons but that's only because she's married to Clay"

"The president" She nodded. She had gone over who was who in the Sons of Anarchy so I wouldn't get confused and say the wrong thing to the wrong person. I knew Jax was the vice president and that meant when Clay stepped down Jax would be taking his place, which was huge.

"All of the guys loved you last night, I remember that much. So don't worry about meeting Clay or Gemma, just be you and they'll love you just as much as Tig"

"Oh god" I laughed "I almost forgot I had to deal with him again"

"He'll get the point after a few days hopefully, pretty sure he knows Jax has claim over you though so don't sweat about him making a move" I nodded "Pretty sure he'll be busy with a few crow eaters tonight anyways"

"Okay this is the third time I've heard that word, what in the fucking hell is a crow eater?"

"Oh. I should have explained that… a crow eater or a sweet butt is pretty much a groupie to the club. They'll sleep with a club member; do favors and such for the club. It's pretty much the same as a whore, but they have a certain name for them"

"Brandon called me a crow eater last night"

"He did?" I nodded and sighed.

"Well you're not, neither am I. Seriously though, I'm sure Brandon's paying for that comment if any one of the guys heard him say it. The club protects what's there's, especially their old ladies"

"Old?" I asked

"Hell did I forget to tell you about that too?" She asked and I shook my head with a small laugh

"No, you explained that and I still don't get understand it."

The woman who was cashiering gave Misha a crazy look when she was ringing in the order and I smirked while pulling my sunglasses out of my bag.

"Wait, did you and Jax even kiss last night?" Misha asked once we put our things into the back of my jeep minutes later.

"No" I said

"What!" She screamed "How in the hell did you two not even brush lips? Jesus woman what have I been teaching you?"

"Mish, take a deep breath okay?" She did but was still waiting for me to answer "We were about to, while you and Opie were off groping each other, I just told him to not kiss me?"

"Excuse me, what did you just say? You told him not to kiss you?"

"It's a little more complicated than that but yes, I told him not to because I knew where it would have lead and I didn't want Sarge killing him because he's really hot" I rambled on and then shut my mouth when her face brightened.

"You wanted to fuck Teller last night, my dad wouldn't have even known, well maybe because he is a light sleeper…"

"Mish!" I shook my head laughing while hopping into the driver's seat.

"What? It's true" I only shook my head once more before pulling out of the parking lot and turned left when we got to the intersection to head over to the Teller-Morrow parking lot where they were holding the shindig. "Oh by the way my mom doesn't expect me home tonight, she said it in a joking manner, but she was up when she heard the motorcycles pull in last night and watched me make out with Op"

"Your mom is the coolest, have I ever told you that?"

"Creepy too. She just watched me make out with my ex-boyfriend like it was no big deal" I laughed "She said she knew it was coming though, she had a feeling that once him and I were in the same room together again it would click like old times."

"I'm glad you're finally figuring out what you want" I told her honestly

"It just sucks because all of these feelings are back and we'll be leaving in 5 days to go back to L.A. I'll have to deal with Tony when we get back too, tell him what is going on"

"You don't have to see Tony right away when we get back, how about this? See how the rest of the week turns out and then decide what you want to do. And I'll take in consideration not going home tonight either" I parked the car against the curb behind another car as she clapped her hands "That doesn't mean anything about sleeping with him Mish, it just means I won't tell him to not kiss me this time"

"Good girl because if you said that again to him he might get a little impatient because you're a great kisser" She commented as she hopped out of the car. I rolled my eyes at her words. It was one time and she still talked about it like it was yesterday. I watched her put her phone up to her ear as I got out of the car and locked it before popping the trunk open. "Hey Op, yeah we're here, parked in front… thank you" She hung up then and I raised an eyebrow "He's sending out a few guys to help carrying this shit."

I looked across the street at the large parking lot. There were plenty of people here and it was just after 5. Tonight was definitely going to be interesting. "Are you seriously lighting up a joint right now?" I asked her as the sparks flew from her pink lighter again.

"What?" She asked and finally got the white wrapped joint lit and she took a long drag before taking another and passing it to me. I rolled my eyes and took it and pulled in the smoke and kept it there for a few seconds before blowing it out into the air above me. "It'll shake some of those nerves, believe me I've known Op for years and I still get them" She then grabbed something from inside a bag in the trunk and handed me a pack of the condoms and I shook my head and she just grabbed my purse and shoved them inside and then took the other for herself. I took another drag before handing it to her when two men in leather cuts walked out of the back of the garage and crossed the street. One of them was Half Sack, the other was Opie.

Misha leaned up and gave him a quick peck on his lips and then he smiled over at me "Hey Abby, Misha being a bad influence?"

"As always" I smiled as I gave him a half hug and then he grabbed a case of the bud light and the salad. Half Sack gave me a smile before he grabbed the other case and the large box of burgers, as well as the plastic bag full of the salad dressings. I shut the trunk then and Misha passed me the joint as we walked behind them and down into the driveway of the Auto Repair shop. I felt the effects after the fourth drag and let Misha finish the rest. All I needed was a small buzz, my nerves weren't so bad right now and hopefully they'd stay at bay for the rest of the night.

The music was just loud enough for people to hear it, and from what it looked like there were just over 40 people. Drinking, eating, some dancing but most of them were just sitting around talking. Misha grabbed a beer that was handed to her by Opie once he tossed the cases into coolers that were set up by the food tables. He handed me one as well and I took a long sip of the bitter tasting beer.

"Well if it isn't my favorite Tequila shooting blonde" I heard Tig's voice and Misha couldn't help but laugh when Tig's arm wrapped around my shoulders to bring me into him for a hug. I rolled my eyes and hugged him back softly.

"If it isn't my favorite older flirt" He chuckled and pulled back but slid his hand onto my shoulder "Ya know Jax has been talking about you non fucking stop, apparently you were in pretty good work out shorts this morning when he bumped into you"

"Oh really?" I laughed and he nodded before pressing his lips against the top of my head "And where is he now?"

"He's inside, should be out in a few, unless you wanted to go in there and surprise him"

"Tig stop hogging all the pretty ones" I heard from the side of us and I raised an eyebrow at the much older man with gray-silver short hair. Tig's arm slid around my shoulders as he brought me into his side as we faced him.

"Clay this is Abigail" Oh so this was Clay Morrow, Jax's step dad and the president of the Sons. Clay's eyes looked me over and then he looked over at Tig who gave him a nod.

"Jax truly upgraded, I didn't believe it but I guess I was proved wrong. It's a pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman" Clay took my hand in his and kissed it gently. I smiled softly and nodded before taking my hand back.

"It's great to meet you, please call me Abby, Abigail is a little much" He nodded with a smile on his face

"Do you need me to get Jax for you? I'm sure he'll be happier to see you than he is with Wendy" I heard the casual tone of his voice turn into something I couldn't pin point. Was he trying to make me jealous that Wendy, Jax's crank whore ex-wife was here in there with him?

"No I'll let him finish up with her, want a beer?" I asked and he quirked an eyebrow up and paused before nodding. I shrugged out of Tig's side and leaned down and grabbed a beer and handed it to him.

"So you live in L.A with MacKinnon, when are you going back?" He asked after taking a few sips of his beer. I knew what he was asking, when the hell was I leaving and never coming back was more like it. I could tell when someone was just prying for answers and Clay really didn't hide it.

"Next Saturday, we're only here for a quick week vacation because of Ian coming home" He nodded

"So you won't be staying longer, that's unfortunate considering you got Jax already wrapped around your finger"

"I do?" I laughed under my breath and shook my head "Funny, considering I thought it was the other way around" I took in a deep breath and downed some more of the beer. Eventually I'd have to eat something.

"Oh Gemma" He said which caught me off guard. Oh lord I was meeting both of the parents at the same time. Misha said to just be myself. Okay I could totally do this. Gemma walked up and Clay slid his hand over her back to rest at her side "Gem, this is Abigail… I'm sorry sweetie I didn't catch your last name." That's because I didn't give it, I thought to myself.

I held out my hand towards Gemma and she took it in hers "Abby Kozik great to meet you finally." Gemma was about to say something as she shook my hand but Clay stopped her.

"Did you just say Kozik?"

"Fucking hell that's where I've seen your necklace before" Tig said next to me and I raised my eyebrows in confusion, my hand dropping from Gemma's.

"Baby what are you talking about?" Gemma asked Clay and I looked at Tig.

"What are you talking about?" I asked him.

"Kozik. Fucking Kozik man. You're related to him somehow" Tig said to me now I was really confused. Why were they just saying my last name? I mean, Kozik was a very uncommon name.

"What's that douche bags first name Clay, Jesus I can't think of it"

"Herman" Clay said and I looked at Clay now with wide eyes.

"You know Herman Kozik?"

"Yeah he's in our Tacoma charter up in Washington, how are you related to him?"

"You mean he's still alive?" I asked and he nodded "He's my uncle"

"Oh wow" Tig said as he looked me over again "I guess ugliness doesn't run in the family after all."

"What do you mean is he still alive? You haven't seen him?" Clay asked

"No, last time I saw him I was around 7. My dad just assumed he died or something because he never called or anything"

"I can't believe you're Kozik's niece. We'll have to give him a call, see if he can swing down here sometime this week to see ya" Clay said and I smiled gently. His tough demeanor was gone now that he knew I was a family member of a Son.

"Thank you, that'd be great" I smiled wider as Tig shook his head annoyed. Then he walked away.

"Don't mind him, him and Koz have had beef for a few years over something stupid" I nodded at his words as Gemma took my hand in hers again and squeezed it.

"Other than that amazing revelation, it's good to meet you, welcome to the family sugar" her words rung in my ears and I saw Misha who was walking by with one of the guys stop and turn her head in our direction. She must have heard those words too. They were big words, words that meant a lot. I didn't need a lot to win over Gemma and Clay; my last name did it for me. I was slightly happy to hear that my uncle was still alive, but annoyed that he never got in contact with me when my dad died. He had been in Washington this whole time? "So you and my son have something going on I hear?" Gemma asked when Clay walked away.

"I don't know" I told her honestly "He's a great guy, I'm sure you already knew that. But I am only here for a week and we just met so I don't think we're taking it seriously." As much as I wanted to take it serious, the truth was in bold print that I was only here for a certain amount of time and L.A. to Charming was 5 hours away from each other. Even if we decided to go that route, long distance wasn't something Jax was going to be okay with, and neither was I.

"A week? That's a shame, haven't seen Jax this happy in a while" I had heard that before from Bobby last night. "Oh there's Wendy now" Gemma said with distain in her voice as a dirty blonde haired woman walked out of the doors to the club house and walked down the steps "Jax tell you that story yet?"

"He did, it's unfortunate"

"To say the least, I never liked that bitch from day one, told Jax to not do anything crazy and what does he do? Marries the broad, I was the happiest woman and also the saddest when he filed for divorce. Those were a few bad days, glad all of that is over with." Jax appeared blowing smoke from the cigarette that had been between his lips prior to leaving the club house. A small smile showed on my lips as Gemma nudged my shoulder and I looked at her "You may only be here for a week but you can still comfort him when he's stressed and I'll only warn you once because I think you're a smart girl. Don't break his heart, you won't like the consequences, family or not."

"I don't plan on it Gemma" I smiled at her warning before leaving her side and grabbing an extra beer before walking towards him. He found me once he looked up from sitting on the edge of the table of a picnic table, a smile forming on his lips.

"Hey stranger, fancy meeting you here" I said as I held out a beer bottle for him and he gladly took it.

"Mmm, come here" He said as he flicked the butt of his cigarette away and slid his hand over onto my lower back and pulled me into him. I wrapped an arm around his neck and kissed his cheek.

"Are you doing alright?" He nodded as his face pressed against the crook of my neck "Are you sure? Because I just saw Wendy leave before you came out"

"How'd you know it was Wendy?"

"Your mother" He pulled his face back and looked me over

"And you're still alive?" He asked and I nodded with a small smile "How'd you manage that?"

"Seems like I'm a part of the SAMCRO family and I didn't even know it"

"What? You've lost me babe"

"Kozik" I said and he raised an eyebrow

"What about him?"

"He's my uncle" He started laughing then, dropping his forehead onto my shoulder

"I was expecting you to say he was your dad, shit" He let out another laugh before lifting his head "So you found your lost long uncle who happens to be supporting our cut, great, he'll probably wanna kick my ass too"

"No one's touching you"

"Is that right?" He asked while taking a drink from his beer

"They'll have to go through me first" He smirked at my words, seeing the stress fall away from his tense shoulders.

"So glad I have a hundred and fifteen pound woman standing in the way of a threat, it sounds very promising" I laughed and shook my head

"Oh Jax" I placed my hand down against his chest, my fingers running over the vice president patch "You haven't seen my right hook yet, just you wait, no one stands a chance."

"I'm counting on it darlin'" He pressed his lips against my temple before I pulled him away from the table to stand up straight which gained him about 6 inches on me. "Where are you dragging me to?"

His hand stayed in mine as we walked across the lot "We're getting food because I don't think my stomach has stopped growling since I got here"

"Eat more and it wouldn't do that" He suggested and I rolled my eyes

"I eat plenty; I just want to last the whole night instead of passing out drunk at ten o'clock"

"Can't have that, that's when all the fun begins"

"What type of fun?" I asked while grabbing a plate after letting his hand go and grabbed a burger and he grabbed one too and put it on his plate as well as some sort of macaroni salad. I grabbed a spoonful of the potato salad instead "Come on Jax, what kind of fun happens at 10?" I asked him again

"That's when we kick everyone out; you think this shit will still be going on in 5 hours? By the time eight rolls around people are too shitfaced to even stand" I grinned while walking back over to that small picnic table with him and sat down. Just as I was about to start eating my phone started to ring in my bag. Shaking my head, I pulling my purse into my lap, making sure to cover the box of condoms as I pulled my phone out and pressed it to my ear.

"Hello?"

"Abby! It's great I love it. Just ran it with Jean and she's in love with it" Max gushed on the other end and I broke out into a huge grin, feeling the weight of that fall off of my shoulders.

"Great, I'm so glad to hear that. I was worried about the ending, it took me a while to get it right but I'm happy you love it Max"

"It's brilliant. How's your vacation going?"

"It's going great" I glanced at Jax "How's running the studio by yourself?"

"Awful" He laughed "I'm missing my two favorite employees"

"I bet you are. Hey look, I'm glad you like the choreography but I was in the middle of-"

"Say no more, have a great rest of the week. Oh one more thing, a package came for you this morning what do you want me to do with it?"

"Just toss it in my office? It's probably some spam mail anyway"

"Will do, have fun!" I hung up and tossed my phone back into my bag.

"Everything alright?" Jax asked and I nodded

"Better than alright, that was my boss. My work is complete for the rest of the week so that means more time to relax"

"And more time to spend around me"

"Maybe, we'll see" I winked at him and he just shook his head

"What did I say about teasing earlier?" He asked after he swallowed the food that was in his mouth

"I forget, you might need to remind me later tonight"

"Trouble, trouble, trouble" Jax mumbled to himself with a grin plastered on his lips.


	8. Chapter 8

It was after eight and Jax wasn't totally right on his prediction. Half of the people had left due to excessive drinking, or for other reasons but there was definitely still enough people around the lot and inside for the party to continue. Currently I was inside sitting on a wooden chair talking with Misha as she sat opposite from me across the small table. Our drinks nearly finished but we weren't worried with a refill, there was a woman behind the small bar who made sure to keep our drinks fresh due to Chibs ordering her to make sure we were taken care of before he fell over onto the couch with some bleached blonde with a long scar on the side of her neck.

"I still can't believe she called you a part of the family" Misha said for the umpteenth time since seven when we had finally come inside with our men, but who knew where they were now after leaving us fifteen minutes ago to go outside. "Super weird that your uncle is a Son, he was like super cute too" She took another sip of her beer while shaking her curled brown locks down her back.

"Gross" I curled my lip in disgust which made her grin.

"I'm kidding" She laughed

"You better be, I still don't know how to feel about this whole thing…" I said honestly, crossing a leg over the other to get comfortable while taking another long sip of my beer.

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, he's alive… he could have at least got in contact with me when my dad died, I thought I didn't have any family left and then out pops that news today. I guess I'm trying to wrap my head around the fact that I still have blood out there. Then Gemma mentioned welcoming me to the family and shit, I guess it was a little too much" I downed the rest of my beer and Misha leaned over the table a bit and took ahold of my hand.

"Are you going to be okay with meeting him?" She asked with concern "I can be there if you need me, you know that" I nodded at her words and shrugged.

"I might punch him in the face honestly. I get that he didn't have to grow up where I lived, which is awesome for him because he got the better end of the deal with growing up with my grandfather. Shit, I really shouldn't be talking about this when I've been drinking"

"You don't ever talk about it Abs, I know the story of your family and how that all worked out but you never really go into detail about anything else. It's like I don't even know half the shit you've been through during your life there and you're my best friend" Her hand squeezed mine gently and I nodded because it was true. I hadn't opened up about my past much, just the regular things that had happened in the last few years after graduating high school. There was one night when I confessed all the shit I had been through with Freddy after a few glasses of wine, she was very supportive. But I just couldn't get into all of the rest, especially the really bad shit that happened with him.

"Maybe soon, after my uncles back I'm sure I'll have a shit load of things to talk about"

"I'll be here" She squeezed my hand again before letting it go.

"I think we're about to ruin a moment" I heard Opie say and I turned my head at the two guys who had just come in from outside.

"Don't worry you've already ruined it" I threw back at him and he chuckled

"Shit you told me" He mumbled which brought a small smile onto my once solemn face.

"This might be a good time to ask if you ladies would like to join us on a ride" Jax asked as his hand fell down onto my shoulder, his fingers massaging into the skin. I could get use to those hands doing that all of the time.

"Where to?" Misha asked as she tipped the rest of her beer back.

"Don't worry your cute ass about it" Opie said as he took her hand and pulled her to stand and I smiled at the both of them. I felt Jax kiss the crown of my head gently which brought me back to just an hour ago when I had told him to not kiss me again. There had been some sort of electricity struck up between the both of us randomly and I blame him for it all. He had wrapped me in his arms and his fingers had snuck under the cardigan. I knew he was getting impatient, so was I. But I didn't want to make out with him in front of everyone; it just didn't feel right yet.

He put the helmet down onto my head once we were out by the row of bikes and then locked the clip in place, and then he smirked at me. "How drunk are you right now?" He asked and I shook my head

"I'm not, beer does nothing for me but give me a headache"

"Should have told Cherry to grab the bottle of tequila"

"Oh no, there's a no tequila rule on Sundays" I told him as he threw his leg over his bike and up righted it after pushing the kickstand off of the group and I hopped on behind him "Mish and I have a big book of thing's we can and can't do on certain days. Misha made up the tequila rule after getting sick from it one morning"

"She could never hold her liquor, even when she dated Op back in the day; she was a terrible fucking drunk"

"That hasn't changed" I told him as he started up his bike and I slid my arms over his waist and hooked my fingers into his belt buckle and waited until Misha and Opie were all set on his bike before we pulled out of the Teller-Morrow parking lot. It was a bit chilly on the ride with the wind whipping against my bare legs and face so I pressed my head against his shoulder blade which kept the wind out of my face.

I'd have to bring my jacket, and probably wear pants next time we went out for a ride at night. My chest and inner thighs were warm though considering the body heat that came off in waves from him was constant. He was just a naturally hot person; I chuckled at my own silly joke in my head as he turned a corner and I looked up to see where we were. I had been down this way before last summer; it was the only place remotely close to a beach in Charming. Sampson Lake came into view on our left with just a few cars parked and the street lights above casted a ghostly feel to the dark lake.

Opie pulled into a spot and Jax parked his bike next to his and I slid my hands away from his front and unclipped the helmet from my head and put a hand on Jax's shoulder to get myself off of the bike. I hung the helmet on one of his handlebars before he got off the bike as well. His arm snaked around my waist as he tugged me back against his front and I smiled, my hand sliding over his on my stomach.

"You been here before?" He asked against the side of my head and I nodded

"Last summer"

"Then you know the stories about this place" He said

"Yeah, you wanted to scare the shit out of me tonight right?" He chuckled with a shake of his head as his arm slid away from my waist.

"Those ghost stories were meant for children, come on" He slid his hand into mine, giving my hand a small tug as I followed behind him. I caught in-step with him as we started walking on the sidewalk next to the 3 foot rock squared ledge you had to go over to get onto the sand of the lake. "Are you doing alright darlin'?"

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" I asked and he shrugged

"It just looked like back at the club house, you weren't really in a great mood"

"That's because I wasn't" I let out a small laugh and he stopped walking and turned to face me.

"What's going on?" He asked and I sighed deeply before turning to hop up onto the ledge.

"Mish was just bringing up past shit because of the amazing news of finding my uncle, and then my mind instantly started thinking about all the bad shit about my life in Mississippi"

"Like what?" He asked as he stood in front of me, one of his hands sliding onto my thigh, the other brushed a few blonde straight strands of hair away from the side of my face. His hand stayed there and I just wanted to nestle my face against his palm but resisted that urge.

"It doesn't matter" I whispered as his thumb brushed against the soft skin beneath my eye and I looked up at him with a small smile.

"Of course it matters, especially if you got upset over it" He said back to me in a soft voice "What was it babe?"

"I'd rather not damper the mood because I might have only known you for a day Jax but I can already tell that what I was thinking would get you angry"

"Angry? I'm not going to get angry"

"Fine" I whispered and took in a deep breath "I dated this guy in high school off and on, after graduation we got serious again. Then a year later we moved in together, I was working as a waitress at this diner and he went into the police academy"

"You dated a cop?" He asked and I rolled my eyes

"Worse, I almost got married to one"

"Kinda at opposite ends here darlin' don't you think?"

"I like it that way, believe me…" I sighed again but then continued "But anyways, yeah he became a really good cop within the two years I was there with him, he proposed and of course I said yes because there was not much else for me to do at that time. He um, after the first few months of him being a cop he started to act different, got angrier, picked fights over nothing. It got really bad a few times so I would stay with my dad. I should have probably stayed with my dad but my ex came and apologized so I took him back like any dumb girl would do. It was fine, we were fine for a few weeks and then he started drinking after work and it started to get bad again…" I took in a shaky breath and looked up at him; he was engrossed in my story. It was a story I had told Misha, but I didn't get into detail on how bad it was.

"He put his hands on you?" He asked

"Too many times to count" I whispered as his fingers slid back into my hair a bit more "After my dad died I really had no place else to go when he'd come home and start up with me, so when he went to work the night of my dad's funeral, I packed up my shit and left."

"You weren't dumb for staying" Jax told me "I'm sure the prick had the whole town on lockdown as his fucking buddy right?" I nodded "So even if you tried to report him nothing would have gone down. You were smart to get out of there when you did"

"I didn't feel too smart at the time Jax, he really fucking ruined my life for 2 years. I was just lucky everything worked out in L.A, if it hadn't I probably would have gone back" He brought his other hand up to mimic what the other was doing on the other side of my head.

"But you did make it; you left and didn't look back"

"I didn't feel safe, there was nowhere safe in that town for me to go without word getting back to Freddy" I bit my tongue, had I really just said his name out loud?

"Freddy? This guy's name is Freddy? Babe come on" he tried to make light of it now but I knew deep down he wanted to murder him for putting me through that hell for so long.

"I know, I should have ran for the hills when he told me his name" I smiled softly as he nodded "I was silly and I was desperate for the attention"

"What?" He asked "You were desperate for some guy's attention? How is that even possible?"

"I wasn't all that hot in high school Jax. I dressed like a boy and didn't know what makeup was"

"I'm sure you were still beautiful"

"Oh god no, I was hideous"

"Do you have photos?"

"Burned them all" I smirked as he chuckled

"I'll have juice find it later" Jax had mentioned what each member of the club did earlier; he didn't really go into details because it was club business but I understood the blue print of it all.

"You're not having Juice dig into my background, I'll be mortified"

"Hey I wasn't that great looking in high school either" he tried to reason but I wasn't having any of that nonsense.

"I highly doubt that Jax, you're the…" My words stopped then as I caught myself before I could tell him.

"I'm what?" He asked "Come on don't all of a sudden act shy now"

"I'm not, I just don't want to stroke your ego too much because it's big enough already"

"Hey" He laughed as he pulled his hands away from my face and put them down against my outer thighs

"What? It's true and you know it, you love it I bet"

"Maybe" He said "But tell me what you were going to say"

"Nope" I smiled at him

"I have my ways of making you tell me" he whispered as his fingertips gripped my thighs.

"You do not" I laughed "I'm never going to say it"

"Wanna bet?" He asked, his face lowering towards mine and I held my breath. He wasn't was he? "Come on babe just tell me" I shook my head as he caught my eyes and suddenly I could feel him pressed between my legs.

"Distracting me, very clever Teller" I whispered and he smirked as one of his hands slid up onto my waist.

"I'm not doing anything distracting yet Abs; I'm giving you a chance to tell me what you were going to say before I use my special move"

"Special move?" I asked and he nodded with a playful smile on his lips "I'm still not saying it."

His hand on my waist started to tickle me and I started to laugh as I swatted my hands against his chest "Jax stop, oh my god" I giggled

"Just tell me and this'll stop" He whispered against the side of my ear

"Okay okay" I laughed and his fingers came to a stop

"I'm waiting" He whispered and I rolled my eyes

"I was going to say that you're the hottest bad boy I've ever come across so there is no way you were ugly in high school" A wide grin spread over his face "Now how's your ego doing?"

"It's overjoyed, you really think I'm the hottest?"

"Ass" I laughed as I hit his chest again and he caught my hand and brought it up to his lips and kissed over my fingers a couple of times. I felt the burning sensation in my lower abdomen at the small action and then he let my hand go.

"I did tell you you'd be sorry for all of that teasin' earlier didn't I?" He asked and I nodded while running my hand over the dark blue SONS t shirt he wore under his leather cut and my fingers played with the hem of it. "Consider us even" He whispered and I nodded again.

"Are you staying at the club house or your place tonight?" I asked him randomly and he shrugged

"No idea, why?"

I contemplated my next words, how was I going to bring up wanting him to finally quicken the pace. Then I remembered last night in front of the house after he had dropped me off and tried to kiss me, he said that I had to throw him some sort of sign and he would know when to finally make his move. My small smile grew wider as my fingers found smooth skin under his t shirt by his hip.

"Because I'm throwing you a sign Jackson."

* * *

_**So I said before in Chapter 1 that this was going to be a slow-burning story. But who was I kidding? Abby is only in Charming for a week and there's just too much sexual tension between the two and that could go on for so long. Have fun and hold on tight because this story is about to get an upgrade in it's rating, no longer Teen worthy, things are getting a burning Mature pretty soon. xo**_


	9. Chapter 9

**Rated M for obvious reasons. Enjoy! xo**

* * *

_"Because I'm throwing you a sign Jackson." _

I watched as his blue eyes narrowed and then they just looked at me. Had I totally blown it? Was I supposed to make the first move as a sign? I probably shouldn't have actually said that I was throwing him the sign that was silly and very dumb.

"And what if I'm not ready? What if I say no this time around?" He asked with a hint of sarcasm and I shook my head

"I guess I deserved that" I whispered while his fingers moved over the side of my neck gently to cup his palm against the skin.

"I said I'd go at your pace Abs, but I'm an impatient man"

"I noticed" I smiled up at him and he smirked as his other hand moved along my lower back, his arm snaking around me to pull me closer to him. "I was just nervous" I continued "Because the last guy I ever…"

"Was your ex" He said and I nodded "Fuck that guy" he whispered while his warm breath tickled my parted lips as the tip of his nose brushed against mine.

"I'm always thinking about the past, it's hard to just forget it" I told him honestly

"Then stop thinking" He told me before he pressed his lips against mine. It was like a tsunami wave of pleasurable electricity washed over me as I pressed my lips firmer against his strong ones. I was the first one to part my lips while my fingers gripped the side of his waist under his cut. God I had been missing out last night, he was an incredible kisser. His tongue was too gentle as it carefully massaged against mine.

"FINALLY!" We both heard in the distance from a very excited Misha which made Jax pull away laughing. His hand fell away from the side of my neck to casually drop it onto my thigh. I brought my hands up and raked my fingers back through his soft hair, my nails scraping against his scalp gently which brought a small noise to mumble in his throat.

"I wasn't quite done yet" I whispered and brought his face down to mine again as his hips teasingly grounded into my open legs. I nearly moaned out right there and as his dull teeth caught my bottle lip and gave it a slow tug, I couldn't help but let out a small noise of pleasure.

"Wanna get out of here?" He whispered as his lips fell from mine to caress the skin at my jaw, and then further down against my throat.

"Mhm" I could only hum out and then his arm that was snaked securely around my lower back pulled me up off of the ledge with ease and then he carefully put me back down onto my feet. It took me a moment to collect my thoughts once he lifted his face from the crook out my neck and then slid his arm over my shoulders, pulling me snug into his side as we started to walk back over to his bike.

"And where are you two off to?" Misha asked as she was leaning against Opie's bike with his arm wrapped around her lower back.

"I'm getting kind of cold; Jax is going to drive me back"

"Right" She said with heavy sarcasm "Mind if I talk to you for two seconds?" I watched as her eyes glanced over at Jax and his hand fell from my shoulder to trail down my back slowly.

"Two seconds" I said as I walked away from him and Misha took my hand and we walked until we were far enough away so the two guys who were now talking couldn't hear what she wanted to talk to me about.

"You're okay with going home with him right?"

"What?" I asked "Of course I am, why?" I asked

"I know you had a few drinks, I just didn't want you doing this because I was like pushing you all day" I let out a small laugh and put my hands down on her shoulders.

"Believe me, me wanting to go home with him has nothing to do with your peer pressure"

"Good, now go have fun, I'll text you sometime tomorrow to see if you're still alive" I rolled my eyes and hugged her tightly "And you have no reason to not be safe" Her hand tapped my purse, making me shake my head "Those better be gone or I haven't done my job as your best friend correctly"

"Mish!" I laughed "Oh my god, stop" She laughed loudly as she held onto my hand while walking back to the bikers.

"Everything all good?" Opie asked us

"Perfect" I said while squeezing Misha's hand once again before letting her go and grabbed the black helmet on the handlebar and put it down onto my head "Let's get out of here Jax."

"As you wish darlin'" He said as he straddled his motorcycle and waited until I got on behind him before turning on the engine. He gave a quick two finger salute with a nod towards Opie before pulling out of the parking spot and my arms snaked around his waist to hook my fingers under his SAMCRO belt buckle.

For some reason the whipping chilly wind didn't bother me as much as it did before, mostly because nothing but Jax was going to extinguish this fire burning within me. And as he continued to drive it got a bit hotter which only made my nerves hit me in full force when he turned the bike onto a normal neighborhood street and then pulled into a driveway. We were really doing this. I was at his house.

I slid my hands back into my lap slowly and then took off the helmet with shaking fingers. I got off of the bike first, and then he kicked his white Nike at the kickstand and stood up. He took the helmet from my hand and hung it back up onto the handlebar before turning around to face me, one of his hands coming up to cup over my jaw, his fingers tracing over the curve of my ear. I finally had to give in and look up at his face "You don't have to do anything you don't want to, remember that" He said before pressing his lips down against mine softly and then pulled back.

"Am I really that easy to read?" I asked him as a small smile tugged at the corner of his lips "Don't answer that. Just bring me inside, yeah?" He nodded with an amused look on his face because of my nervousness and then kissed me again quickly.

The inside of his house looked like a regular house which sort of surprised me due to him being a hardcore biker but it was a good surprise. It felt homey with a couple of photos on the mantel over the fireplace, a leather couch against the wall as well as a TV in the corner. The kitchen was a good size, not too big but enough space to actually move around when you were cooking. The only thing wrong with it was that I could tell he didn't really live here much, and it wasn't even the dust that was collecting on different things for me to figure that out. It felt like it was missing something special.

"You don't live here much do you?" I asked as I ran my finger over the kitchen counter top.

"That's obvious?" He asked while opening up the fridge and I got a quick peek inside, a 30 pack of bottled beers and a jug of water.

"A little" I whispered as he pulled out two beers and handed me one after popping the top off. I took a much needed sip and then took in a deep breath as he leaned his back against the fridge and took a drink from his bottle as well. "How about we dust off that couch and see what infomercials they have on right now?"

"Great idea" he said as he downed half of his beer and walked with me into the next room, grabbed the remote and turned the TV on before falling back onto the couch, I sat down next to him and crossed a leg over the other while taking another sip from my bottle. "So we got some step work out going on, or sixties classics"

"Sixties classics" I mumbled

"Good choice" He tossed the remote to the side and his hand slid over onto my thigh, his thumb grazing against the smooth tanned skin. "So uh… how do you like Charming so far?" He asked just to make conversation and I grinned.

"I don't know, people here are assholes so I can't wait to go home" I joked

"Everyone is an asshole I'll agree with that, but not one person sparked your interest? That I find hard to believe"

"Maybe one, or two" He turned his head towards me and laughed

"Two huh? Who's the other guy?"

"Who said you were one of them?" I asked

"You're fucking awful you know that?" He asked and I nodded

"I know I'm the best" I laughed as I put my hand down on his that was still on my thigh.

"I don't think I've laughed this much in a while darlin' my face is starting to hurt"

"Really because it's killing-" His hand came up to cover my mouth before I could use the overused remark and a small smile graced my lips under his hand.

"I set myself up for that one, I knew you were going to fucking say it too" He chuckled "Can I take my hand away now?" He asked and I gave him a nod.

"You did set yourself up for that, I'm glad you know it. But in all seriousness, Bobby pulled me aside last night and told me that I was something special because he hasn't seen you this happy in a long time, I think your mother said something about that too earlier"

"Of course they did" He sighed and I shrugged

"I'm glad I can make you happy by just being my awkward self, even if it's for a little while Jax. I may not know everything you've gone through and I probably won't understand any of it, but maybe us meeting yesterday at the store wasn't some sort of coincidence. I mean I did find out who my uncle was and where he is thanks to Clay and Tig, so I guess we're both getting something out of this thing… whatever it is"

"We're a thing" He said and I nodded

"We are, a week-long thing" He chuckled at my words and slid his arm under my legs and turned me to face him as he dropped my legs onto his lap. I smiled after downing the rest of my beer and leaned over and put it down next to his on the coffee table.

"So are you sure you burned all of those high school photos? Cause I'm still not believing you weren't this beautiful all of the time"

"I wasn't I swear, but thank you" I smiled at his compliment and brought my hand up to trace my nails down through his blonde hair at the back of his head. "Maybe there's a few out there somewhere but still don't have Juice look them up please"

"I won't darlin'" He whispered as I scooted closer to him.

"It's funny how nervous I was on the ride over here but now that I'm here I don't feel those nerves"

"That makes one of us" He mumbled and I raised an eyebrow

"Are you telling me you're nervous? Jackson Teller is nervous?" I asked and his head fell back on the top of the leather cushions with a deep exasperated sigh "Sorry, sorry" I whispered as I brought my other hand up and placed it down on the side of his face and turned his head to look at me. "You have nothing to be nervous about though."

"I don't huh?" He asked and I nodded "I don't usually bring women back here; it's usually at the club house"

"I don't really want to hear about the women you've slept with if that's okay with you, and if you wanted to bring me back to the club house that would have been fine too Jax"

"No, no you don't belong there. You deserve good shit, flowers, and dinners"

"I don't like flowers and we did already eat at the barbeque" I ran my fingertips over his scruffy jaw and back over his ear "I like this stuff. It's casual and easy and I haven't stopped smiling all night. I'm not high maintenance like Misha is sometimes; you have to remember where I came from Jax. I grew up in a house the size of a boathouse; to be honest I think it was a boathouse because I lived next to the water. I only had a few friends and everything I had I earned by working multiple jobs. I don't like fancy, yes sometimes it's needed especially for my job, but I'm an easy girl… I mean, not that easy but…" I laughed and he smirked

"I get it; I'm just use to women like you being dramatic about that type of shit"

"Why because I live in Los Angeles now?"

"No because you're stunning and could get any guy you wanted but you're here in my shitty house with me" I smiled wide while my nails grazed his throat.

"That's right Jax; I'm here with you because I want to be here with you and don't cut yourself short because I'm sure you have batted those baby blue's and had women eating out of the palm of your hand. I meant what I said at the lake, you're pretty hot" He grinned and shook his head.

"You're bad for my ego Abs"

"I know" I whispered while leaning a bit and pressed my lips against his cheek "I could shower you with compliments all night just to make you smile like you are right now, but in all honesty I just want you to kiss me"

"Demanding woman" He said and I nodded

"You're damn right" A grin spread over his face as his lips fell down against mine and I repositioned myself with my legs on either side of his thighs as I straddled his lap. One of his hands stayed on the side of my head while his fingers threaded through my hair and the other gripped at my waist.

I was quick to discard my black cardigan onto the floor and his hands moved over my bare-arms and down my back to pull me closer to him as my arms wrapped around his neck. I shivered against him when his teeth tugged on my bottom lip again. He helped me with taking his leather cut off and then his navy blue t shirt and I held my breath as my fingers traced down over his abs. "Jesus" I whispered and caught his eyes again and bit my bottom lip. "Here I was thinking you couldn't look more perfect?"

"Shut up" He whispered as his lips caught mine again and I grinned as his hands pulled my tank top over my head and tossed it to the side. I wiggled my feet out of the black flats and then fell onto the floor in two small thuds. My hands went to his belt as I was quick with shaking fingers to pull the strap of the leather and finally after my third try I succeeded and left it open after unbuttoning his jeans.

"For a woman who wanted to go at a slow pace you sure as quick to get my jeans off" He murmured against my jaw

"Shut up Jax" I threw back at him as his hands came up to grip the back of my neck to make me look at him.

"What was that?" He whispered and I smirked as he tried to be a little more aggressive with me but he did his job, the pit of my stomach burned a little hotter.

"I said can we take this to the bedroom?" I whispered and he nodded with a wicked grin on his lips as he pressed his other hand to my lower back and scooted forward and then stood up as I securely locked my legs around his waist. He walked down a small hallway and kicked his foot against the last door and walked inside and let me do down onto the bed and I let him go as he stood up on the edge of the bed. I watched as he pushed his hand into his back pocket and flipped through his wallet and shook his head. I knew what he was looking for and I was suddenly glad I let Misha put the box into my purse.

"Go grab my bag, it's on the kitchen table" He looked over at me after tossing his wallet to the side and leaving the room quickly. My eyes caught sight of the very large Sons of Anarchy tattoo plus reaper on his back and my eyes widened a bit. That must have taken forever to complete. Shaking my head s bit with a smile, I took in a deep breath and closed my eyes while running my fingers back through my hair to somehow get my cloudy head in order. He was back in seconds with my black bag in one hand and the black box of condoms in the other.

"Looks like someone was planning this all along" He said as he dropped my bag onto his dresser and I shook my head.

"Misha bought them at the store earlier, made me put them in my bag"

"I'll have to thank her later" He tossed the box next to me on the bed before he went to turn the light switch on.

"Leave it off, please" His hand stopped before he touched the wall

"Whatever you want darlin'" He walked back over to the bed and slid his hands up over my thighs and tugged my shorts off to leave me in my black underwear and lace white bra. He was quick to unzip his jeans and let them fall off and he kicked them to the side as he leaned down with a knee on the edge of the bed between my legs and slid his arm under the arch of my back and lifted me up and tossed me back more on the bed.

"Such a gentleman" I whispered as I hooked an arm around the back of his neck and kissed him, my hips pushing up against his that were pressing down between my legs. One of his hands slid up my back and unhooked my bra and I pulled it off of my arms and tossed it over his shoulder onto the floor. His calloused thumb gently grazed one of my already hardened nipples and he smirked, pulling away from my lips.

"Anymore secrets I'll be finding?" He asked as he ran his thumb over the pierced nub again. A drunken night lead into Misha and I making a promise to each other that we'd at least get one thing pierced, I went all out crazy and got one nipple done and she went ahead and did the easy thing like getting her nose pierced.

"You'll just have to wait and see" I whispered while I ran my soft finger down his chiseled stomach and hooked my thumbs into his boxer-briefs. As his lips caught mine again briefly, I slipped a hand underneath the material and ran my fingers down over his hardened member. Jesus, of course he could get more perfect, I thought to myself as his breath hitched against the side of my throat as I wrapped my hand around the pulsing thickness and started to stroke him slowly.

One of his hands moved down my stomach and he tugged at the black cotton material before his own fingers slid down over to cup his palm over my burning core. He didn't need to get me ready, hell I've been ready for the past half an hour but as his thumb brushed over my sensitive nerve, I let out a small pleasurable moan while arching my back into his hand. My own hand gripped him a bit firmer, giving him longer tugs.

His thumb grazed it again and I closed my eyes and let out a sharp sigh as his middle finger sank into my entrance and curled upwards against my spot. "Fuck, Jackson" I breathed out while my toes curled into the striped sheets on the bed beneath us. His long finger slid out of me and then back in at a painfully slow pace and that continued until I couldn't take it any longer and it only took a few hard stroked from my hand for him to understand what I really wanted without having to use words.

His hands gripped onto the sides of my underwear and tugged it down as I lifted my legs together in front of him and he tossed it behind him to leave me completely bare to him. His fingers massaged into one of my calves after I put my feet back down on the bed and then he tugged off the last piece of clothing from his own hips and I grabbed the small box of condoms and pulled it open and tore off a foil packet and he took it from me as I tossed the box and roll of condoms to the side off of the bed. He ripped the small packet open with his teeth and I watched him as he did so and to be honest it was really hot. He was getting impatient, just how I was feeling.

After the condom was rolled onto his very well-endowed cock, he leaned back down over me but kept a hand by the side of my head on the pillows to hover so his full weight wasn't on me. His lips found mine again in a hungry and frenzied kiss while his free hand held onto his base and ran his thick tip over my sensitive nub of nerves and down to my entrance. His hips pushed forward slowly and as he entered me, I pressed a hand to the side of his face to hold his lips against mine until finally he was fully inside of me.

"Fuck babe" He whispered against my lips and pulled his hips back and pushed them into me at a faster pace. My hand fell away from his face to trail my nails down over his tattooed back until finally he leaned up a bit and caught my hands and pressed them down into the mattress, his fingers interlocked with mine.

He was slow at first and I was perfectly fine with that. His member fit tightly snug within me and it couldn't have been a better fit. I watched him roll his hips into mine with hooded eyes over and over again until finally he let my hands go and slid them down my breasts and stomach until his fingers dug into my waist and hips started to quicken the pace. I met his pace halfway with my own hips as one of my hands stayed on his chest and the other gripped the pillow by my head.

"Right there, shit yes" I gasped as he moved a hand down in between our connecting bodies to rub his thumb quickly against my bundle of nerves again. The sensation of the extra pleasure was making me lose myself faster than I wanted to but I wasn't going to fucking complain. I let out a loud, sharp gasp as it hit me like a truck. My calves shook as the pleasure rolled in waves throughout my whole body.

He let out a groan as my walls tightened around him and then convulsed quickly and he stopped his fast pace with his hips until I came down from my high. He watched as my back arched and I bit down on my bottom lip to keep myself from screaming. His hand coming up to the side of my face and once my orgasm faded, I blinked my eyes open to see him staring down at me with his lips parted and his eyes blazing in the darkness. I couldn't feel embarrassed, that had been the first orgasm I'd had in nearly 4 years and I could already feel the greed sinking into my bones because I wanted more.

His arm slid under my lower back and pulled me up into his lap as he sat back and repositioned himself to be sitting up against the headboard where I had been just a few moments prior. I lifted myself and pushed myself back down on him and I rode him. Once I got my breath back from the mind-numbing orgasm, I quicken my own pace as he met my hips with an extra thrust. This man was going to kill me I swear. He leaned up a bit more and his lips moved down against my throat and down over my chest, catching one of my nipples in between his lips and gave the steel bar a small tug which made me hiss in pleasure.

My fingers ran down through his hair and down over his shoulder blades as I continued to ride him like it was my job. Soon enough after a few more minutes another orgasm was building in the pit of my stomach "Oh Jax" I gasped as he groaned against my neck.

"Fuck" He growled as his fingers tightened on my hips as his climax came quickly as my walls quaked around his pulsing member. As my orgasm faded, so did his and he ran his hand up over me and gripped the side of my neck and kissed me passionately. His lips made a pop noise as they pulled away from mine and his arm wrapped around my back again as he rolled us over until I was under him and he rolled out of me. I closed my aching thighs and stayed on my side as he tossed the used condom into the small trash bin by his bed and then rolled back over and wrapped an arm around my lower back. "You should see yourself right now" He whispered as his lips brushed against my closed eyelids and I blinked them open to look at him.

"I bet I look amazing" I whispered sarcastically and he nodded

"You do. I'm realizing you look good all the time, especially…" He brought his lips against my ear and whispered "When you're cumming." His words lit another fire within my stomach and I closed my thighs tighter together.

"Down boy" I patted my hand against his damp chest and he chuckled.

"Shit I couldn't go again even if we tried"

"Burnt out already? That quick?" I asked him and he shook his head with a grin on his lips

"Darlin' you just rode the shit out of me, I'm good for a few more hours" I felt great to hear that I satisfied him more than it should have. He tugged at the bed spread under us and I helped move my weak body around until we were both under the thin sheet. He lay on his back as I was tucked into his side with my head against his chest with my arm draped over his stomach.

"What are you going to do when I leave, Jax?" I asked and his lips fell down onto the top of my head as his fingers played with the ends of my hair.

"Come after you."


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10 already?! Things are about to get hectic soon so I apologize if you don't quite like it but it's already been in my plan from the start of the story. Love you guys. Remember to send me a quick REVIEW after reading to let me know what you liked, hated, or want to see in the future! xo**

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I watched him sleep peacefully in the early morning, the sun was streaking in through the pulled blinds and curtains but I could see him clear as day in the dim light. There was much more to Jackson Teller than he was willing to admit to me and I guess that's for the best. I'm not here forever and he was the type of guy to keep his heart close to him, as well as his secrets. I knew his job within the MC was much more than he let on, I knew that it took a lot out of him too considering this is the most peaceful I had seen his face since getting here two days ago.

I ran my index fingertip over the corner of his pink lips with a small smile before removing his hand from my waist and slid out of the bed. I slid my black underwear back on and walked out of the bedroom and into the bathroom across the hall. As I washed my hands I got control of my hair and fixed the smudged makeup under my eyes and left a few moments later to walk through the house, I grabbed his blue SAMCRO t shirt from the couch from last night and slipped it over my head and found the time on the wall. Just after 9am. It was always around this time that I woke up for the day, there was this inner alarm clock in my head that needed to shut off some mornings.

I walked back into the bedroom to find him in the same position I left him in, snoring lightly on his side with the dark blue striped sheet hugging his naked waist. I grabbed my phone from my purse and turned it back on silently to check my messages, a few from Max in which I didn't bother opening and one from Misha.

_'Hope you're having fun! Text me when you're alive'_

I rolled my eyes and tossed my phone back into the bag and climbed back into the bed which made him stir a bit, his arm snaking around my waist again as his eyes opened slowly. "Mmm" He mumbled "Nice shirt."

I smiled at his very husky voice and leaned over and kissed him sweetly before running my fingers back through his messy blonde hair. "What time do you have work?" I whispered and he shrugged while rolling over onto his back and I stayed on my side while watching him.

"Got a meeting at noon, what time is it?" He asked as he let out a yawn and scratched the side of his neck before he looked back down at me with a smile.

"Just after nine" I whispered and he sighed before sinking his body back into the warm mattress and wrapped me in his strong arms again.

"What's wrong?" He asked after he kissed me and I traced my fingers down over his jaw.

"You said last night that you'd come after me when I left" His lips turned up into a smile as he nodded "You were being serious?"

"Do you not want me coming after you?" He asked while his fingers slid under the t shirt of his I was wearing and I swallowed hard.

"This is happening fast don't you think? You have a serious life here Jax"

"You're freaking out" He mentioned

"I know that" I whispered "I'm also thinking way too much" He pressed his lips against mine, his hand sliding onto my ass to get my mind off of serious things and it started to work.

"Stop thinking, you reminded me that you're leaving Saturday more times than I can fucking count. So don't remind me again, because I know you're leaving… how about this babe we'll have this conversation on Friday, we'll figure it out then, alright?"

"Okay…"

"I have a run tomorrow and Friday, maybe if you're up for it we can do something, just the two of us"

"What we're doing now isn't just for the two of us?" I asked with a small smile on my lips and his hand squeezed my behind gently "That sounds like a good idea though, I have a few things I said I'd do with Mish, we'll work around that. But until then we do have a few hours to kill until your meeting…" He caught my eyes and grinned.

"You can't help yourself can you?" He asked as I rolled over and retrieved the condom foil packets from the floor and ripped one off and rolled back to face him.

"I'm greedy, but you love it" I whispered just before his lips pressed against mine and my hand moved down in between us and underneath the sheet.

* * *

It was a quick ride back to the club house after we showered together to use up less time, who am I kidding it wasn't for that reason. I changed back into my clothes, thanking god I remembered to pack a clean pair of underwear in my purse's zippered side because it wasn't bad enough that I was going back to the club house in the same clothes. I quickly pulled my damp hair up into a tight ponytail and put on light makeup and then we were off.

Misha had texted me saying that she was at the club house around 11 so I didn't have to drive around the town to find her at Opie's place. Once Jax parked his bike into the lot, I pulled my cardigan off and shoved it into my bag before anyone saw me. Maybe I'd look a little different without that piece of clothing.

"You're not fooling anyone" Misha called from the picnic table after I hopped off the back of the bike and I shook my head. Jax chuckled and brushed his fingers over the side of my face and kissed me softly.

"Don't leave without saying goodbye?" He asked

"I wouldn't dream of it" I kissed him again and then he walked away, running his fingers back through his hair and went inside after giving a quick hello to Misha. I took in a deep breath and pulled my bag back up onto my shoulder and walked towards her.

"You look good" She said "Let me see your bag"

"No" I said quickly, already knowing what she was going to check for. "Seriously, thank you for buying them though we would have been screwed and it would have been awkward."

"I knew it!" She laughed while wrapping her arm around my shoulders and hugged me. I hugged her back lightly while shaking my head at her. "So how was it? Was it amazing? Did he suck? Was I totally wrong with size?" She started to fire off questions as we sat down at the picnic table.

"Yes. No and no you weren't" I answered as the door opened and I glanced over at Cherry who was holding three coffees in her hands.

"Hey saw you drive up and made you a cup" She said as she placed one of the cups of coffee in front of me.

"You're a godsend" I told her as I took a long sip of the warm coffee. I had been dying for coffee for 2 days now. "Do you want to sit? We're just talking about girl things"

"Sure, thanks" She said with a smile and sat down next to me.

"So you're going out with Kip right?" Misha asked and I raised an eyebrow "Half-sack"

"Oh I didn't know his real name" I smiled and looked at Cherry who was nodding

"Yeah, we're at the early stages as you could say… are you and Opie getting back together?" She asked

"Might be" She said and I made an 'O' shape with my mouth

"Really?" I asked her with a bit of excitement and she nodded.

"We talked a lot about it last night and to be honest he makes me so happy, it's something I've been missing from Tony in L.A."

"Tony?" Cherry asked

"He's just this guy who I've been seeing off and on for the past year, more off than on recently… but yeah Op has really turned his life around and he's not some kid straight out of high school, he has most of his life in order" I slid my hand over to hers and squeezed it gently

"I'm happy for you but…" She cut me off by nodding her head

"I know, how will it work right?" I nodded "We talked about that too and I might be moving afterall"

"Back here?" I asked and she nodded

"We're going to figure it out by the end of the week, see what I can do with the studio in L.A. There's a studio over in Stockton looking for work"

"You're old dance studio is hiring" I mentioned

"How do you know that?"

"I ran by it yesterday, the woman inside offered me a job" She laughed and nodded

"That would be Marie… maybe I could ask her. But there's a lot to consider and figure out before I move back. I need to know he's serious about this before anything" I smiled gently and took another sip of my drink.

"I can't believe I'm going to lose my best friend"

"Maybe you can move here with me?"

"I can't do that. There's so much in L.A. right now, I was lucky enough to get this week off, you know that" She nodded and shrugged.

"We'll figure it out… but anyways other than that. Jax, last night was amazing?" Cherry turned her attention towards me now and I nodded at Misha's question.

"Yeah, he was a gentleman"

"A gentleman? Jax?" Misha asked with a laugh

"What? Okay fine you want all of the juicy details. We… yes okay we slept together" I spat it out and she clapped her hands with a huge smile on her face "But that's all I'm telling you so use your own imagination"

"I'll get the details out of you by the end of the week… is that your phone?" She asked and I nodded with a sigh

"Max has been calling me and texting me all morning, trying to ignore the fool"

"Who's Max?" Cherry asked

"Our boss" Misha answered her and I pulled my phone from my purse and shook my head

"I'll be right back; I'm going to call him back"

"Tell him that it isn't Saturday yet and he can't boss you around"

"Will do" I commented as I called him back and was met by a woman's voice instead.

"Abigail? I've been trying to reach you all morning" She said and I raised an eyebrow and tilted my head to the side as I walked further into the parking lot and away from the two curious women.

"Jean?" I asked

"Yes, I'm calling from Max's phone because I forgot your number"

"Where's Max?" I asked

"That's what I was going to ask you about. The police have been at the studio all morning, someone smashed out the glass viewing window and Max left his phone here and no one has been able to reach him" She said in a rush of her Spanish accent and I blinked a few times.

"Wait what? Someone vandalized the studio?"

"And your office, as well as Max's. I went in this morning to open up for the tap dancing class scheduled at 9 and it was a mess. I tried calling Max right away after I called the police, but I found his phone on the floor under a few filed papers. When was the last time you talked to him?" I felt my chest start to get heavy and I tried to breathe it out without having a panic attack.

"I talked to him yesterday afternoon, maybe around 6? He told me that you two went over the email I sent…"

"I saw him lock up last night around nine, he never goes anywhere without his phone Abigail"

"I know that" I whispered as I leaned my back against a shed and hung my head a bit

"I just don't know what to do here, I can't sign off on any of the legal papers without him or you here" I took in another deep breath and closed my eyes.

"Can you text me Astorino's number? Maybe I can call Steve to fix up the window, and try to fix this as much as I can. I'll cut my vacation short if I have to. If Max doesn't show up by tonight give me a call alright?"

"I will, I'm sorry about this"

"Don't be. It's not your fault; this isn't the first time the studio has been broken into either. It just came at a bad time is all."

"I'll text you the number when I get it and I'll call you if something else happens"

"Thank you" I hung up then and hit the back of my head against the wooden shed behind me before texting a few people and shoving my phone back into my purse.

"What's going on?" Misha asked

"The studio was vandalized again, some asshole shattered the window into the viewing area and broke into the office's. Jean's going to have a heart attack"

"Are you shitting me? It was probably that asshole who we kicked out last week"

"Probably, but Max isn't picking up his house phone apparently, no one can get in contact with him. So I'm waiting on a number that Jean is going to text to me to figure this out. Of course this shit would happen when we're not near there right?" I asked while running my fingers back over the pony tail on the back of my head. My phone buzzed just as a few of the guys exited the club house back door, Jax was in tow behind them.

"Tell him to give me like 5 minutes to handle this?" I asked Misha and she nodded as she stood up from the table as I walked away again while dialing the number.

"Hello James Astorino Insurance, how may I help you?"

"Hi, my name is Abigail Kozik. I'm calling because my dance studio has been-" She cut me off instantly which I thought was rude.

"Oh yes, we were expecting your call. Let me patch you over to Mr. Astorino" I nodded and took in a deep breath.

"Ms. Kozik?" I heard a man say on the other end of the line

"Yes that would be me. I apologize for not being there in person"

"No worries, we can do this over the phone, Mrs. Garcia filled me in on the situation and I'm very sorry for your loss" I raised an eyebrow but went along with it.

"Thank you. I'd really like to get this mess taken care of as soon as possible, as you can imagine it's been a tough week already"

"Understandable, I have the papers here in front of me and you co-signed on the last lease with Mr. Dwyer so there won't be an issue with filing another form in which I can do. I just needed your permission to file them"

"You have my permission" I told him while rubbing at my throbbing temple

"Perfect, do you need a reference to fix up your window?"

"No I do not; I still have the other contractor's number but thank you"

"I guess it's a good thing you've kept that handy"

"Sadly I didn't think I'd be using it again so soon, thank you again Mr. Astorino"

"Pleasures all mine, I hope the rest of your week gets better"

"Thank you, goodbye" I hung up then and dialed another number once I scrolled down some.

"Home, Window Express this is Steve, how may I help you?"

"Hey Steve its Abby Kozik"

"Abby! Hey great to hear your pretty voice, how are you doing?"

"I wish I could say better. I need one of your guys over at the studio, someone smashed out the viewing area window again"

"Again? That's the second time this summer"

"Tell me about it" I sighed deeply

"Don't worry about it, I'll have Greg and Tom run over there in a few hours and take care of it"

"Thank you Steve you're a life saver"

"No worries sweetheart and don't be a stranger come in and say hi every now and then"

"I'll be sure to do that soon, thanks again" I hung up and texted Jean that the insurance company had been called and that Steve's crew was heading over there in a few hours to fix up the window. Unfortunately she'd have to clean up the rest because I wasn't paying for a maid to clean it. I put my phone back in my bag and took in a deep breath to calm my nerves before walking over to the group.

"You know you're still my favorite even if you are Kozik's niece" Tig said as he wrapped an arm around my lower back and hugged me. I smiled and hugged me as well.

"Thanks, it's good to know whatever my uncle did to you doesn't reflect on me"

"Never darling" I smiled again and he let me go. Misha caught my eyes and gave me a small look and I nodded.

"Everything's taken care of for now" She nodded before sinking back into Opie's arms that were around her shoulders. Jax was sitting at the picnic table where I had been sitting moments prior, his legs out in front of him with his back leaning against the table. I was about to sit in the empty space Cherry had been occupying before but Jax pulled me onto his lap before I could sit down. The tension slipped off of my shoulders the second he kissed me and as he held the side of my head in his hand he looked me over before a small worried line creased his forehead.

"Michelle said you were on a serious phone call, you alright?" He asked and I nodded.

"Studio got broken into, just had to call the insurance company and someone to go fix the window"

"Who would break into a dance studio?"

"It's the second time it's happened in the past two months, usually they just trash the place, break a window or two. Unfortunately this falls on my shoulders because my boss Max isn't anywhere to be found so…"

"I didn't know you were an owner"

"I'm not, just co-signed on a few things just in case Max was out of town when shit hit the fan just to be safe. I was just lucky enough that I didn't need to cut my vacation short and drive down there to sign papers because I'm really enjoying myself here" I wound my arm around the back of his neck and kissed the corner of his lips. "But that's until Max shows up, he's probably off on some bender with his boyfriend"

"I don't want you cutting your stay here shorter than it already is Abs" I sighed at his words and nodded "But if shit hits the fan and he doesn't turn up, I get why you'd have to leave."

"I'll try and not leave until we know that he's really missing alright? Believe me Max goes missing for a few days at a time most months so I'm not all the worried"

"Good, then relax a bit" He rubbed his hand along my back and kissed me again.

"Abby we should head out soon, we still have to go shopping with my mom today" Misha said and I nodded

"Almost slipped my mind" I whispered before pulling myself off of Jax and he stood up.

"I'll walk you over to the car, take your time lovebirds" Jax said towards Misha and Opie as Misha held up her middle finger at him and Jax's hand found mine as we walked away laughing. "So I was thinking maybe you should have my number"

"That may be a smart thing" I smiled as I pulled my phone out of my bag once again and he programmed his number into the touch screen before handing me the phone back. "Seems we've been doing this whole thing backwards"

"Who cares about doing it the normal way anyways?" He asked once we got to my jeep across the street and I unlocked the doors after turning the engine on with the small black remote on the keychain so that the air conditioner could cool down the interior.

"Maybe we can do something later, I don't know how long shopping with Donna is going to take but she likes to shop for a few hours at least"

"Fun" He said sarcastically "What type of shopping?"

"What do you think?" I asked and he smiled as he placed his hands down on my shoulders and moved them slowly up to the sides of my neck "Maybe I'll pick up a little something you can see on me later."

"I might like that and not yell at Donna for keeping you away from me for so long"

"Donna would punch you"

"I know she would, that woman can pack a punch for such a little body" I laughed and slid my arms around his waist and kept my head against his chest while I hugged him to me.

"Come on lovebirds break it up" Misha said and I shook my head and looked up at Jax who then kissed me and I leaned up a bit when the tip of his tongue traced against my bottom lip but before I could part my lips the car horn behind us in the jeep blasted which made me jump.

"Fucking Misha" I grumbled and Jax sighed while he pecked my lips once more before letting me go.

"Call me later we'll figure something out" he said

"I will, don't get into too much trouble"

"Never darlin'" I smiled at him once he winked a me and jogged across the street back into the Teller-Morrow parking lot and I hopped into my cool aired car.


	11. Chapter 11

**Thank you all for the amazing reviews, keep them coming! xo**

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My fingers skimmed through the various materials of lace and silk to find what I was looking for. We had been clothes shopping down at the mall in Stockton for the past hour and a half and my patients was running thin on just about everything. I had picked up a few things for myself once all three of us went our separate ways about a half hour ago. I did tell Jax I was going to pick something up, something on the risky side so that's what I was doing now but I was awful at this type of stuff. I quickly picked out a black set of lace and started to walk up to the line to check out. Once my phone buzzed in my back pocket, I pulled it in front of me and read over the text from Jean.

_'Still no word from Max, Tom is here fixing up the window. I'll keep you updated.'_

I shook my head and pushed the phone back in place in the back pocket of my loose boyfriend styled denim jeans before I ran my fingers back through my straightened hair. Where the hell was Max? He wasn't with his boyfriend, I had called him to see what was going on earlier when I got back to Misha's but he hadn't heard from him since last night and apparently Max was supposed to stop by his place after closing up the studio. Things started to feel odd after that. It wasn't like Max to just skip out seeing his boyfriend, they were inseparable when he was home rather than on business meetings overseas.

"Miss are you all set?" I heard from one of the busty brunettes at the front of the store and I nodded.

"Sorry about that, it's been a long day" I told her as I put the hanger up on the counter and she started to pull the garments off and ring them up.

"Don't worry about it; we've all had those days. Will that be all?"

"Yeah I think that's it…" My eyes fixed on the black stockings behind her on the wall "Actually, those black stockings, I'll take a pair of those too" She nodded as she grabbed a pair and quickly rung those up as well before tossing everything into a pink small bag.

"That'll be 63.97" She saw my card in my hand "Credit or debit?"

"Credit, please" She nodded after punching a key on her touch screen before I slid the credit card and typed in my info and she handed me the receipt.

I had never bought this type of stuff, except for a Halloween party last year but I didn't show it off to anyone but Misha. I wasn't this type of girl back in Mississippi; if Freddy caught me in this clothing he would have shredded it with scissors and called me a few names, slut being one of them I bet. My phone buzzed in my back pocket again and I pulled it out as I spotted Misha coming out of a jewelry store with her mother.

'_Police are at the studio again' _I read and sighed deeply.

'_If they need to talk to me give them my cell number, I'll be around the rest of the day' _I quickly typed back

_'Will do'_

"I see a pink bag, someone is getting a present tonight" I rolled my eyes at Misha and looked over at Donna.

"Did you find the bracelet you were looking for?"

"Yes, but unfortunately I had to put in an order because they were out of my size" She said

"At least you found it that counts for something."

"Would you ladies like to go up to Marciano's? I could use a glass of wine, maybe some food" Donna asked as we made our way over to an escalator and I nodded, I could totally go for some wine right now.

On the second glass of wine our food arrived and we were in deep conversation with Donna's interest in my own fling with Jax. Apparently Misha had been telling her what was going on so she fired question after question but after a while I changed the subject when she asked about the sex.

"So did you hear your daughter might be moving back here?" I asked and Misha glared at me and I just batted my eyelashes at her with a wide smile.

"You are? Why you have a great life in Los Angeles" Donna directed her interest in something other than my sex life and finally I could enjoy my food as they spoke.

Once the check came, I took care of it and wrote down a nice tip for the annoying waitress who asked us how the food was about seven times. I had a nice buzz from the wine and I was happy that Jean wasn't texting me, just meaning there wasn't any news and no news sometimes was good news.

"So where do you think he is?" Misha asked later on in her bedroom while she changed her shirt for the thousandth time.

"Max?" I asked and she nodded "I have no idea, I wasn't worried earlier but now it's just not like him, ya know?"

"You have spent more time glued to that man's hip than I have and I've been working there for five years, if anyone knew where he'd be at this point it'd be you" She said while taking off the pink shirt and tossing it into the closet which made my eyes roll.

"The police said they already searched his condo, his boyfriends. Max doesn't have time for a double life so he's either at a club hopped up on coke or he's still in bed with another guy"

"I thought he stopped doing that"

"So did I until I found him snorting up a few weeks ago in the back room.

"Jeez" She whispered "No wonder why he's been super hyped lately, I just thought he was getting laid more often" I shook my head and rolled over on her bed to lie on my side to face her "What do you think about this shirt?" She asked. It was a very low cut light green v neck tank top.

"If you want Opie just staring at your fucking tits all night go for it" She smirked at my words

"Someone is still buzzed" She commented as she zipped up the black denim skirt she threw on.

"I'm not really; I guess hanging at the club house yesterday made me slip up on my language a bit"

"It suits you; you sound better when you're swearing anyways. You've got that whole southern badass thing going on tonight and Jax is going to die when he sees what's underneath that getup" I smirked and rolled onto my back before standing up from the bed "Even though you should show off your legs more…"

"You hate me wearing jeans" I commented "I thought these be tight enough even for you."

"Maybe" She whispered "You never wear skinny jeans so I'll be happy about that" She grabbed her purse and crossed the strap over her body "So I heard the guys have something going on tomorrow, we'll have to make tonight last."

"Believe me, I plan on it" I fixed my black top in the full length mirror in the corner of her room and turned around.

"You weren't serious about going back were you?" I looked over at her "I overheard you tell Jax that you'd go back if Max didn't show up tonight."

"I don't know" I whispered "I'm hoping not. I'm hoping he just turns up…"

"So do I" She whispered "Hey, if he doesn't show up and you need to go back I'll go with you."

"You don't have to do that, your mom still has that big dinner on Thursday with your cousins and stuff and I don't want you missing that"

"But it's Max"

"I know" I told her "Stay here alright? He'll probably turn up by Saturday and I'll drive back up here Friday night"

"That's a lot of driving"

"I know but it'll be worth it to have another night here"

"Using me to get to Jax already?"

"I can't help it, look at him" She laughed and pulled her phone from her bag and put it to her ear. After a quick conversation, she turned the screen off "That Op?"

"Yeah they'll be here soon."

I quickly walked back in my room and pulled on my light denim jacket and then grabbed my small clutch bag and pulled it up over my shoulder and checked my phone again. Still nothing. I had to stop worrying because there was nothing I could do about it until he showed up again.

"They're here!" Misha called as she passed my open door and walked down the steps while pulling on a small leather jacket. I had heard the motorcycles pull up but I was still stuck in my own thoughts to move from my spot on the edge of the bed. Taking in a deep breath, I brushed my hair behind my ear and got up to walk down the stairs after her. The front door was still open and she was wrapped in Opie's arms already before I could shut the door behind me. Jax was sitting against his bike, his fingers raking through his hair but when he spotted me he stood up and straightened out his white t shirt.

"No cut tonight?" I asked as I walked towards him and finally I was wrapped up in his embrace.

"No need for it darlin'" He kissed me, tilting my head back to have leverage when his tongue slid into my waiting mouth. His hands moved down my back until they tucked into my back pockets. "Damn your gorgeous" He whispered before pecking my lips once more.

"Mmm, I tried" I whispered "So what's the game plan tonight?" I asked while he handed me the helmet I was so accustomed to wearing now.

"It's a surprise" He said while hopping on his bike and I raised an eyebrow and placed a hand down on his shoulder and straddled the seat behind him.

"Is it too late to tell you I hate surprises?" I asked

"You'll like this one, you ready?" He asked and I nodded while sliding my hands over his sides and down over onto his belt buckle but they didn't stop there until I was touching something lower.

"Now I am" I whispered and he chuckled while letting out a deep breath "I'm kidding" I laughed and gripped his buckle now.

"So about that thing you were going to buy…" He mentioned after he turned the engine on.

"It's a surprise" I threw back at him as he pushed the kickstand up and started to pull away from the curb. At the corner in the town square, Opie and Misha turned a separate corner and I raised an eyebrow. Finally real alone time with him I thought, that would definitely get my mind off of worrying about my boss. As he turned another corner and the noise came to my ears I shot out alone time with him because he was taking me to that fun town place. We'd be alone in a sea of people.

"So is this your definition of a date?" I asked once I was on my feet, suddenly glad I wasn't in less clothing.

"Nah, the real fun begins when I get you back to my place" His words were a shot of electricity to my groin and I couldn't help but smirk and turn away to get into the grounds of the fair.

"You have a filthy mouth Jackson Teller" I said once he caught up to me and slid his arm over my shoulders to let the two men who had been eying me at the gate that I wasn't there alone.

"And what are you gonna do about it darlin'?" He teased against my ear while we walked up to the ticket booth.

"Put it to good use later" I said honestly and slipped from under his arm to get to the ticket booth first.

We use to have state fairs with rides and a few booth games back in Mississippi, the high school hosted them every year for some type of homecoming party. I never went to them in high school, only when I was a kid. It was a mother and daughter bonding moment, as my mother put each time. As I grew up and she grew sicker, we stopped going, then the year after she passed away. My dad hated this things, mostly because people would just point and talk about him in hushed whispers even though he knew what they'd be saying about him. The town drunk always got talked about behind closed doors.

As Jax paid for some tickets, I absentmindedly traced my finger over the pouch that held his knife on his thigh. It was good to see him without his cut and just being himself tonight instead of representing the club. He still commanded authority everywhere he went though, that much was clear from the various people looking over at him and then at me. Was this how it always was with him? Did he not even need the cut for people to know who he was and what he did? As I looked at Jax again once he got his change back and pushed the money into his black chained wallet, I wondered more about him. I didn't know much about him to be honest. Just the general things about him, like how he had a brother who died, how his dad died, when he died. I had met Gemma and Clay, who seemed nice enough but it was clear just by spending so little time with Clay that he was the boss and what he said got done no matter what.

"What are you thinkin' about so hard?" He asked while we walked and I shrugged

"I was just thinking that I don't know a whole lot about you, you know me pretty well now"

"I don't know everything" He mentioned and I nodded

"That's because some things are better left unsaid" I commented as his fingers slid into mine and he brought the back of my hand up to his mouth and kissed it gently.

"Why don't we forget about all of the shit going on in our lives and just have fun tonight" He stopped walking which made me stop to look at him, and with one clean nod of my head he started walking again. No consequences, I had to keep reminding myself of that.

The fun did start as he dragged me unwillingly to a very fast spinning ride and I closed my eyes the whole time we were up in the air. That wine was playing tricks on my stomach as I tried to get my bearings once we were finally on our feet. "You're going to kill me" I whispered to him once the bar against our stomachs was unlocked and I pushed it away instantly.

"You laughed, awe come on babe don't be like that" He chuckled at me as I brushed the hair out of my face. His arm snaked around my waist when I got a little ahead of him and he pulled me back "Alright, fine you pick the next one." I looked around and with narrowed eyes I smirked and pointed "The fun house?" He asked and I nodded "It's not that fun Abby."

"I don't care, we're going" I took his hand and we were off. After he gave the woman two tickets, we slowly made our way through different obstacles; like a sliding floor, as well as a spinning one and then we pushed our way through punching bags that were set up in one of the rooms. Once I was near the end of the punching bags, I slid off to the side in the dark room.

"Where in the hell are you?" I heard Jax say over the very annoying carnival music that was playing. Once I saw him, I shot my hand out and grabbed his wrist and pulled him into me against the wall. One of the bags fell back and hit him in his back pushing his body flush against mine. "Was this your plan all along?"

"I've always had this wild fantasy especially in high school, about being in one of these dark rooms and-"

He cut me off by pressing his lips down against mine, the bags swinging back and forth behind him because others were making their way to the exit door but they didn't see us because we were in the opposite corner. His fingers slid up the side of my tight black tank top to squeeze my side and then it moved further until his palm cupped over one of my breasts. His teeth nipped at my bottom lip gently as a smirked sprung up on his lips.

"Getting felt up in a fun house crossed off of your fantasy list?" He whispered and I nodded as I leaned up and kissed him again while his hand kneaded my breast in his hand. As my fingers traced down his white shirt and to his belt he pulled back "We should stop, don't want to spend the night in lock up" I nodded and took in a deep breath while my hand fell away from nearly unbuckling him.

"Okay" I whispered once I got my head screwed on straight and he took my hand and pulled me along with him to the next room, and then finally we were back out in the fresh air. It was easier to breathe out here. Sometimes when I was around him it was like this magnetic pull, I guess I should thank our actions last night for this happening, but there was just something about him. "I'm going to head to the ladies" I told him once I spotted the set up restroom tents and he nodded.

"Want something to eat?" He asked

"Ate earlier, just a drink?" He nodded as he kissed me quickly and I walked off and waited in the four woman line to use a stall. As I waited, I checked my phone for any messages and I only had one from an unknown number. I clicked it open and read the long message.

_'crow nailed them together, nailing heaven and earth together- so man cried, but with God's voice. And God bled, but with man's blood."_

"What the fuck" I mumbled to myself and typed _'wrong number weirdo.'_ Then I pressed send and tossed the phone back into my purse before using the toilet and washing my hands. When I left the restroom tent I spotted Jax eating something in his hand which looked like a hot dog and he had a drink in his other.

He handed me the medium sized cup and I took a sip through the straw to find that it was coca cola. I took another sip and leaned up and kissed his cheek while he swallowed the last bite of his food. "So was a guy winning a stuffed animal on your fantasy list too? Because I've been eyeing this one game…"

"Sounds perfect" I whispered while wrapping an arm around his lower back and his arm caught around the back of my neck while we walked towards a ball throwing game. He ended up wasting too much money but eventually he got the prize he wanted after many times of me telling him it was okay. But he was a man and he wanted to get the thing he wanted no matter what I said. The stuffed husky dog stayed wrapped in my arm for the rest of the night.


	12. Chapter 12

**Read, and review! xo**

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I tipped the opening of the jug of water to my lips later on that night in Jax's kitchen, only dressed in the cheeky laced black undies I had bought earlier at the mall. The cool air from the open door of the fridge brought goose bumps to my thighs and after having another sip, I twisted the cap back in place and shoved the jug back onto the first shelf next to the beer bottles.

"What is taking so long?" I heard him call out from the living room and I rolled my eyes while walking around the corner and into the threshold. He was dressed in his white boxer-briefs; foot up on the coffee table in front of him with the remote was in his hand. He grinned over at me once I came into view. We didn't make it to his bedroom this time around and I could already feel the slight rug burn on my knees as well as my lower back but I wasn't complaining.

I walked back over and sat in the spot I had been occupying for the last half an hour while we watched some stand up show on comedy central. "I think we're way too comfortable already" I mentioned while I turned over and to lay with my head in his lap.

"That might be true but you're beautiful so who gives a fuck" He asked and I smiled while turning my head and kissed his stomach before looking back up at him.

God he was a beautiful man.

"Heard from Op that Michelle might be moving back, what was that about?" He asked once there was a commercial and I shrugged.

"She finally figured out what she wants in life I guess, and she wants Opie" His fingers traced small patterns just below my naked breast and he sighed quietly.

"Does that mean you'll be moving with her?" He asked. Somehow I knew he was going to ask this question, if not tonight than by the end of the week. Opie and Jax were best friends, have been since they were small boys so of course they gossiped just as much as Misha and I about this topic. When I didn't answer him right away he looked down at me "Taking that as a no."

"I have a lot of shit going on in L.A. Jax; I can't just pack up and move like she can"

"Because of the studio shit going on?" He asked

"Not just that, I have… okay yes it's the studio. I've invested so much time in the three years I've been there and I don't want it to all go to waste"

"So you're a workaholic" He mentioned and I nodded

"As much as I hate that word, it's been thrown at me on multiple occasions. I like what I do, it was my dream to be where I am now and I think I'd be lost without it." I'd be lost without him too. But I wasn't going to come right out and say that. Everything in my life was hectic. From paperwork to dance classes, drama with Max, business meetings that sometimes were out of California. My life had been a hectic mess until I came to Charming. I could finally breathe here and not wear my regular getup of dresses to impress, or spandex bras to teach people how to dance. I could relax here, and it had been three days but I was already addicted to this feeling. "I thought you said we weren't going to worry about this stuff until Friday?"

"It's been bugging me" He whispered

"I can tell" I said while moving around until I was straddling his lap to be eye level with him.

"You don't have some other guy back in L.A. right? Because I'll have to kick his ass and…"

"Jax, I already told you my story… you're the first guy I've been with in a really long time and I wasn't planning any of this when I came here. Weird coincidence or fate if you have it, bumping into you at the store set all of this in motion, imagine if I did pack my toothbrush and deodorant? We probably wouldn't have met"

"I don't like the idea of not knowing you" He told me honestly and then he chuckled while brushing his fingers down over my sides "I haven't felt this way since high school."

"And who was your high school crush?" I asked him

"I dated this girl, Tara. She ditched town after graduation without even a goodbye and moved to Chicago"

"Some people just need to get out" I whispered "I would know… I was one of them." He kissed me softly, and then pressed his forehead gently to mine to keep his eyes on me.

"You wanted to get to know me better, fire your questions" He said and then kissed me once more before leaning back. I traced my fingertips down over his chest and thought of a few.

"What's your middle name?" I asked

"Nathaniel" I smiled.

"Jackson Nathaniel Teller, that's a very strong name"

"I never liked it until you just said it" I laughed at his flirting and kissed him sweetly "What's your middle name?" He asked

"Van" I whispered

"Van?" He asked and I nodded with a sigh "Abigail Van Kozik"

"My mother was very big into Dear Abby, I've hated it since I learned how to write" He chuckled after saying my full name again and I hit his chest playfully. "So you told me that your brother Thomas, he died when he was six right?" He nodded "How did that happen?" I asked "If it's too personal just tell me to shut up."

"He was born with the family flaw as my mother likes to call it, it's a genetic heart disorder and unfortunately his was pretty fucking awful" I stopped tracing small patterns over his chest when he said the word genetic.

"Do you have it?" I asked and he nodded "Oh."

"Don't worry darlin' I'm not going anywhere anytime soon"

"You better not" I whispered as my tracing started again.

"How did your parents die, you said you mom was sick for practically your whole life but you never went into detail on what she had or what happened to you dad"

"She had breast cancer, went through chemo, and wore a god awful blonde wig. Eventually the cancer came back when I was twelve after she was in remission for about eight years, the chemo stopped working and that was it for her… my dad was a drunk, he was the best though" I laughed under my breath lightly "He died from liver failure. As much as they fought, when my mom died when I was fourteen my dad was lost without her."

"Any man would be" He said and I looked up at him with blurry eyes, was I really on the brink of crying in front of him? Jesus, I hadn't cried over my parents in years.

"Anyways" I whispered while batting the hot tears away while looking down again "This conversation just got super grim and gloomy." His hands slid around my waist and he kissed my jaw softly "What's your favorite kind of candy?" I asked

"Don't have one" He said

"You totally do to. So you're trying to tell me that when you were a kid you didn't beg Gemma to buy you a certain type of candy at the store?" He grinned

"Fine, gummy bears"

"Gummy bears? I pictured you as a dark chocolate type of kid, mostly because dark chocolate is my favorite"

"I'll have to remember that and yeah gummy bears were the candy for me. Pretty sure a bag of that shit was the first thing I ever stole" I laughed and he grinned

"First thing I stole was a lighter I think. Thought I was cool, started smoking when I was in high school, awful habit"

"Tell me about it" He said "Fucking packs are going to be ten bucks soon"

"You should quit" I suggested

"If only it were that easy doll" His lips pressed to the side of my throat this time and I leaned into his touch. "I might kidnap you, hold you here until you agree to move to Charming" He whispered

"It wouldn't be kidnapping if I liked it Jax"

"Then I'll make you hate it. You'll scrub the house down spotless, make me food all the time, do chores"

"So basically you want me to be a regular old housewife, something I despise"

"Exactly"

"Then I don't want to be here at all and it'll be kidnapping" I told him and he grinned while wrapping his arms around my lower back "But secretly I'll love it because eventually your needs as a man will have to be satisfied"

"Eventually" He whispered "Or I could always get a-"

"No. No crow eaters, do you want to make me sick right now?" He shook his head

"You know you're the only one for me" He whispered and I held my breath at his words "That's why it's going to fucking suck when you leave."

"It's going to suck for the both of us" I moved my hands up to the sides of his neck, blonde strands of hair tangling through my fingers. "I still haven't had a text saying anything about Max, and my dad always said no news was good news… so that means you still have me until Saturday as of right now"

"You're still worried about that situation?" He asked and I shrugged my shoulders lightly

"It's just strange. Here's the run down on Max. He's 42, super into his boyfriend who is ten years younger than him but also sleeps around; he had a coke problem in his teen years and recently I found him snoring some in his back office at the studio a few weeks ago. So either he's on a bender, or he's sleeping with some guy, or something is seriously wrong… I'm hoping it's the bender one because that just means he'll pop up refreshed and ready to work on Monday like nothing was wrong"

"He does this a lot?" He asked

"I think I told you he did this once right? Well it's been a few times. I guess with the whole window smashed out thing at the studio and him not having his phone on him, it freaked me out a little" His hands moved up and down my back soothingly "But like I said he goes missing for days at a time, I shouldn't freak out about something like this when he could pop back up again."

"I'm sure he will" He said "Guy sounds like a winner"

"Other than his hyper coked-out personality, he's a lot of fun to work for most of the time" The knocking on the door caught me a little off guard and it made me jump. It was just after eleven. Who in god's earth would be knocking on his door this late?

"Go in the bedroom" He whispered against my ear after kissing my cheek. I pulled off of him and gathered my clothes and purse from the floor before I walked down the hall and into his bedroom. I heard the Scottish accent after I pulled on a t shirt of his. Why was Chibs here?

_'Anything on Max yet? Staying over at Opie's tonight'_

I read the text from Misha from an hour ago and typed a quick _'Nothing yet. At Jax's'._

I put my phone on his dresser before walking to the bed and climbed in between the sheets and wrapped myself in the warmth and smell of them. They smelt like him, and just like that first night at the bar when I breathed in his scent, it was still as addicting.

"Babe" I heard and my body jolted as I was startled out of my dream, my eyes flew open to see Jax leaning over me "Fuck, you scared the shit out of me" He sighed deeply and pulled his hands away from my shoulders. Had he been shaking me?

"What?" I asked while rubbing my eye a bit

"She alright Jackie?" I heard from the doorway and I glanced over Jax's shoulder to see Chibs there. How long had I been asleep for?

"Fine" He said back to him. Then Jax looked back down at me "Are you okay? You were fucking screaming in here"

"I was?" I whispered and shook my head looking a little bewildered "I'm fine, I hadn't even noticed I fell asleep."

"Didn't take very long to fall asleep, we've only been talking for 10 minutes" I ran a hand over my face then and shrugged a bit "Are you sure you're alright Abby?" He asked and I nodded again

"Seriously Jax I'm okay, must have been having a nightmare or something, I don't even remember it" He nodded before pressing his lips down against my forehead.

"I'll be back in a few minutes, try not to do that again almost gave me a fucking heart attack" I nodded with a small smile as he pulled himself up from the bed and walked back to the door and closed it halfway behind him.

The last time I had a night terror that quickly after falling asleep was years ago, right after I moved in with Misha. How embarrassing… Chibs probably thought I was some wack job now, awesome. I looked up at the ceiling, willing myself to stay awake until Jax came back. It only took about another 10 minutes and finally he was walking in through the bedroom door and looked over at me, before he could ask I told him I was fine again.

"I used to have night terrors after I moved to L.A, eventually they stopped… I'm sorry I freaked you out" I whispered once he climbed into his side of the bed.

"I really thought you were being murdered in here. What were you dreaming about?" He asked and I shook my head.

"I don't remember" I whispered "Probably of my ex, those are the kind of nightmares I had before" His hands moved up around my waist and pulled me into him.

"He's not here to hurt you" He whispered

"I know that" I said "I guess something just reminded me of him today and it triggered it. I really am sorry."

"Don't be, it's not your fault" He kissed me softly "Do you think it'll happen again if you fall asleep?"

"No"

"Only a one night only deal?" He asked with a hint of a smile on his lips

"I feel safe when you're around, it won't happen again" I whispered honestly and he gave my side a small squeeze before kissing me once again.


	13. Chapter 13

**Double-trouble update tonight! Read it, and then leave a quick review! xo**

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"You were supposed to call me if he didn't show up last night" I said into the phone while leaning my arms down onto the railing on the small deck in the backyard.

"The police said to stay put until something pops up; they searched his condo last night…" Jean said on the other end and I nodded waiting for her to continue "nothing turned up there; they said it was as if it hadn't been touched for a while. Did the police call you yesterday?"

"No, that's why I was waiting for an update from you last night. Look, are you at the studio?" I asked

"Of course, just covered Misha's four o'clock class"

"Cancel for the rest of the week, you can finish tonight I know there's a seven o'clock class but post up that the studio is closed for the rest of the week. If people ask give some bullshit excuse like the floors are being redone"

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, until all of this blows over and Max turns up I don't want to risk that asshole coming back to shatter another window, he's cost us enough money as is. Can you handle the cancelation calls?"

"Yeah I'll start that after I get off the phone with you, don't worry about the rest and I promise I'll update you about Max alright? I just didn't want to worry you"

"I'm already worried enough Jean" I whispered "But thank you, have a good last class and have fun on the rest of the week off"

"No worries, I'll text you"

"Please do, bye" I hung up right after and shook my head while I turned around and gasped because I didn't know someone was outside with me.

"Sorry to startle you sweetheart, everything alright?" Gemma asked as she flicked her cigarette ash over the railing and I nodded while looking down at my phone and shrugged.

"I'm sure someone's filled you in on what's been going on" I pushed my phone into my back pocket and crossed my arms over my chest casually.

"Boss troubles? Heard Michelle talking something about that earlier" She said with interest and I nodded once again.

"Yeah he's still MIA. One of the assistants slash dance instructors was supposed to keep me updated but she failed to do that simple task. Told her to close down the studio until he pops up from where ever he is"

"Think he's in trouble or just MIA? He do this a lot?" She asked

"Unfortunately, I'm sure he'll turn up eventually" I raked my fingers back through my wavy hair and watched her toss her cigarette butt over the railing.

"Jax seems to be keeping your mind off of that stress" She mentioned and I raised an eyebrow "When I suggested having a dinner tonight he was quick to throw your name out on the invitation list."

"Your son is… something else" I whispered "He's a great guy Gemma."

"Oh I know that, come on you still need to help set the table" She motioned and I nodded with a small smile as he hand guided against my lower back while we walked back into her house.

When I heard that the Sons had a run to do today I thought that meant time away from Jax and motorcycles but just after waking up in the early morning, Jax was on the phone with his mother and he asked if I wanted to go to a family dinner with everyone. I was perfectly okay with seeing him again, even if it meant small awkward conversations with Gemma. Surprisingly they hadn't been awkward at all; she had opened up her house to me like I was a member of the family, like she had said when I first met her. I didn't need to put extra stress on my already weighed down shoulders to impress her but still it was Gemma, she was the definition of intimidating.

As I thought about all the shit I was going to have to deal with when I got back home, I stirred a macaroni salad. This vacation was supposed to go much differently. It was supposed to be relaxing and I was going to not think about work for a whole week. For fucks sake, where the hell was Max? The police said not to worry, Jean said not to worry but how could I not when nothing from him was showing up. He could be dead in a ditch for all I know. He could have been buying coke and got mugged. When Jean called while I as setting up plates on the table, a quick flash of her telling me he was dead came to my mind just so I was prepared for it. That was awful to think, I really needed to have positive thoughts about this whole situation.

"That all set Abigail?" Gemma asked and I nodded while handing it to her and Misha caught my eyes across the kitchen while she poured milk in a measuring cup and dumped it into a pan.

"You have to stop thinking about it" Misha asked and I rolled my eyes while leaning back against the counter while Cherry grabbed something from the fridge and left the kitchen quickly to help Gemma in the other room. There was another girl running around here who I had met briefly but I had no fucking clue what her name was.

"I can't" I told her "But I'm trying, need help with that?" I asked as she handed me the milk carton and I put it back into the overly stocked fridge. I glanced over at the clock, just after six-thirty; Gemma said they usually rolled in around this time. Maybe when Jax was back I could forget about it all and focus my attention on him.

It had been a long afternoon without him and at one point I found myself really missing him. I was in way deep over my head with this and Misha knew it. She pulled me aside after my shower before coming over to Gemma's to help. She told me to pull back the reigns if I was going to leave Saturday with no intentions of starting something up with Jax, she said that Opie told her that Jax was really feeling me, like old lady status and that crept into my bones and left a sour taste in my mouth. As much as I wanted to spend more time with Jax and keep in contact with him when I went back home, I knew nothing good could come out of it. Distance killed relationships and he and I weren't even in a relationship, we were just having fun.

So I didn't know how I was going to deal with this. Misha said to have fun with no consequences when we got here, but suddenly because Jax is getting feelings for me I had to put a stop to it before it became official. My head was confused on what I should do with him because spending time with him is all I looked forward to everyday of this vacation now. He clouded my thoughts when he was around enough to make me forget about the shit going on in L.A.

Maybe that conversation we were going to leave until Friday had to happen after the dinner. We both had to be on the same page because I didn't need Gemma kicking my ass because I broke her son's heart, and I didn't need Misha kicking Jax's ass because he broke mine.

The rumbling of motorcycles caught my ears while I scraped the mashed potatoes into a bowl and walked into the dining room and put the bowl down next to chicken. "Something smells delicious" I heard Clay say as he pushed open the front door and he quickly hugged me before he went over to his wife and gave her a long, and hard kiss. I smiled at their affection and took in a deep breath before I saw Jax walk in behind Bobby. When we parted this morning after he drove me back to Misha's house his face showed no blemishes, and now there below his left eye was a red mark. A red mark that was sure to turn black and blue by the morning.

"What happened?" I asked him as his arms wrapped around my waist to pull me in for a kiss in which I dodged by holding his face in my hands to look over his eye.

"Don't worry about it babe" He said and I shook my head with a grimace.

"Fine" I mumbled, shrugging out of his grasp "Good talk" I whispered before retreating back to the kitchen. He sighed loudly behind me and was about to follow but Misha put his hand down on Jax's arm and told him to let it go.

The dinner and desert went by way too slow in my opinion and after the third time of pushing Jax's hand off of my thigh under the table I excused myself to help Gemma and Cherry clean the dishes. I shouldn't be acting the way I was, Jax wasn't obligated to tell me what happened with his eye and his beat up knuckles but I was sick of people telling me not to worry. All my damn life people told me not to worry which made me worry a thousand times more. He could have told me some guy punched him in the face and they fought. Believe me, I wasn't dense to the shit his club did on their "runs". I just wanted the truth because I could handle it.

"What can I do to fix this?" Jax asked while he got me alone outside in front of the house after getting fed up with me avoiding him around nine o'clock.

"Fix what?" I asked him while typing away on my phone.

"You hating me Abby" I rolled my eyes at his words and then he snatched my phone out of my hands and I looked up at him.

"Give me that" I reached for it but he held onto it behind his hand.

"Not until you talk to me. What the fuck did I do?" He asked and I crossed my arms over my chest again after reaching for the phone again but wasn't successful.

"I want you to be honest with me because I'm not stupid. I've seen a black eye before and beat up knuckles; hell I patched up my dad enough times to know you got into a fight"

"This is about me not telling you I got into a fight? Seriously?"

I took in a deep breath and exhaled slowly before looking up at the black clear sky. No this wasn't just about that. This wasn't just about him not telling me the direct truth, this was everything that had been weighing me down over the past few days and he was the only one to take out my aggravation on.

"No" I whispered and looked back at him a little defeated "There's just so much going on in my head and I can't fucking shut it off for two seconds, I'm sorry I took it out on you" He pushed my phone into his back pocket and to be honest it was better off there than my hand.

"Talk to me"

"I have" His hands came up and brushed against my cheeks before he placed them down against the sides of my neck "Everyone keeps telling me not to worry but I just can't stop worrying and then there's you"

"Me?" He asked "What about me?"

"You didn't want me to talk about it until Friday"

"Did Opie say something to you?" He asked and I raised an eyebrow while shaking my head "Oh, Nevermind"

"No… what's going on?"

"He was on my case this morning about you, saying that if I wasn't serious about this then I should just stop whatever we're doing."

"Funny, that sounds like Misha" I slid my arms around his back and pulled him against me, hugging him to me tightly with his leather cut pressed against my cheek. "I didn't plan this Jax" I whispered "I didn't plan on feeling like this so quickly."

"Me either darlin'" He said back, his lips pressing to the top of my head "We'll figure it out"

"You keep saying that, but what is there to figure out?"

"Michelle's moving here, there no fucking way she's going back to L.A. and staying there. Op talked to me about it, said it was a done deal after last night. I know you said you weren't going to uproot your life and I don't expect you too, you've worked way too hard to just leave again so maybe we can do the long distance thing and before you cut my head off just hear me out alright?" I nodded while pulling back from him a bit to look at his face. "You said you didn't think distance would work but it's only a five hour drive Abby, fuck… there's a small airport over in Stockton I could hop on a plane and be there in two hours. We got phones; I think you know how to write a letter unless they didn't teach you that shit in hick-town Mississippi."

"Ass" I muttered as I hit his stomach and he made an oof noise while I laughed. "But you're right and you actually made a few good points"

"A few?" He whispered "I just fucking sold the shit out of long distance to you"

"Maybe" A small grin turned up on the corner of my lips "And maybe if this works out, that studio over by the woods I ran across the other morning will be hiring fulltime and I'll be able to move here because Charming's really grown on me"

"Oh so it's Charming that's grown on you huh?" He asked as I teased him.

"You know it's you" I whispered while bringing my fingers up to lightly trace over the dark mark on his face "I don't expect you to tell me the truth about what happens on these runs of yours, but I'd really like to keep your body unharmed alright?"

"I'll try my best Abs" I nodded at his words and stood up on my tip toes and kissed over the mark and before I could go back down on my heels, he gathered his fingers at the back of my neck and pulled my lips against his. His body molded against mine as his fingers gripped the skin behind my neck and his arm snaked around my lower back. His tongue caressed mine as my fingers swept through his hair. The opening of the front door made our lips part from one another but our bodies still stayed as close as possible. "Did you really just agree to be my girl?" He whispered and I bit down on my bottom lip, his sweet taste still tingling in my mouth.

"Did I?" I asked him playfully "We can try it out, have fun for the rest of the week before I head home. Like you said, we'll figure it out from there Jackson"

"Have I mentioned how sexy my name sounds coming from you?" He asked with a dazzled look in his blue eyes.

"Jackson" I whispered his full name again and he grinned before his lips pressed against mine. I nipped hard against his bottom lip and a small growl escaped his mouth. My phone ringing in his back pocket made me pull away from him and I grabbed it quickly and put it to my ear while giving him another quick kiss.

"Hello?" I asked with a small laugh while his face nuzzled into the side of my neck. "Stop" I whispered to Jax and pushed against his shoulder but he chuckled.

"Abby…" Came a shaky voice on the other line and instantly my once high mood was dumped with ice water.

"Jean?" I asked "What's wrong?"

"The police just came… I…" I took in a deep breath and Jax quickly saw the difference in my mood and raised an eyebrow while looking at me.

"What did they say?" I asked her in a calm voice while taking a few steps away from Jax.

"They found Max, they got a tip that he was held up in a room at the motel six by the high school"

"So he's okay" I whispered while raking my fingers back through my hair.

"No Abby… they found his body."

I held my breath and finally after a moment I filled my lungs until they burned with air "Are you sure it was him?"

"I was the only one who could have identified him, he doesn't have family here, it's him Abby"

"Oh god" I whispered as my eyes filled with tears and my knees suddenly felt like they would give out if I took another step "I'm heading back, I'll be there by the morning"

"Okay" Jean whispered through the phone and I ended the call.

"Babe, what's going on?" Jax asked and I turned around to face him but looked back down at my phone. I had prepared myself for this call, I thought I had. This was a possibility I ran through my head earlier and I thought that I had… His thumbs were on my cheeks now, brushing away tears. I was crying now. "Hey, what is it?" He whispered while wrapping an arm around me but I couldn't lift my arms to hug him back.

"I…" I swallowed that thick lump in the back of my throat before I could say something else "That was Jean… um, the police they found Max."

He put two and two together, not needing me to explain that he was dead. Max was dead. How was that even possible? "Abby?" I heard Misha's voice and then the front door shut "Jean just called me." Jax let me go when Misha wrapped her skinny arms around my midsection "You're okay just breathe" She whispered against the side of my head. Breathing was so simple when everything around you felt less dizzy.

"I have to go" I said while pulling out of her hold "I said to Jean that I was going back"

"You're not going back right now" she told me "You've had a few glasses of wine, we need to process this before you go back alright?'

"I told her I was going back Mish" I wiped against my damp face and shook my head "How did this happen?" I mumbled to myself.

"You're not going back to L.A. tonight, there's nothing you can do right now. If you still want to go in the morning I'll let you but you're not going tonight" Her motherly voice was out now, telling me what I could and could not do. "I'm not giving you the keys either" She said as she wiped against her own wet cheek.

"He's dead, I can't just stay here"

"I know" She whispered as she tried to bat away more tears and finally started to let them fall. I let out the deep breath that felt like was crushing my lungs and grabbed her as she started to break down. Her tears soaked the shoulder of the dark blue v neck t shirt I was wearing. My hands rubbed her back soothingly while I watched Opie come out from the front door, his eyes falling on the both of us. Jax caught him before he could say something and I was grateful for that.

"Shhh" I whispered against her dark silky locks of hair. It's crazy how my emotions always got put on hold as if on cue to help her. She was my family, and the most important thing to me and it hurt me to know that she was hurting more than me right now. "Let's go back to your house" She shook her head as she wiped against her face and pulled back.

"Opie…" I nodded, understanding what she wanted and to be honest I knew why she was asking for the big man.

"Right behind you" I whispered to her "Call me in the morning okay?" She nodded before turning around and Jax let him by and she just broke down again once his arms held her. I took in another deep breath, pushing down the bile that was about to rise to my throat.

"Babe" Jax said as he stepped closer to me and I shook my head.

"I need to get out of here" I told him and he nodded.

"Head over to the bike, I'll grab the keys and have Half Sack drop off your jeep at my place" I turned away from him and walked slowly towards his bike as he walked back into the house.

I felt numb and I wanted the feeling of Jax's face nuzzling against my neck back. I wanted the feeling of not having that phone call back. I didn't want to know the news. I should have put my phone on silent before Jax took it from me. We would have been heading back to his place right now for different circumstances. We'd probably tumble in through the front door while shedding our bodies of our clothes like we did last night. It would be chaotic and messy and wonderful.

I hadn't noticed I was hyperventilating until my surroundings started to blur and my legs started to feel like they were going to sleep due to the lack of oxygen pumping through my system. I held a hand against the front of my jeep that Jax parked next to in the driveway and tried to take in a full deep breath. "Shit" I whispered out as my hand failed to hold me up and my body fell to the pavement under me, the side of my skull cracked against the tar making flashes of white blind my eyes.


	14. Chapter 14

**Here's a Monday night update! Hope everyone's weekend was amazing. Remember to leave a quick review, or a PM on what you want to see in this story because I'm always open to pleasing the readers. xo**

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The pain in my throbbing head was enough to make me wake up a little unsettled. My hand searched for the blankets around my body to pull them over my face to drown out the light. God, did I really drink that much for this hangover to be happening right now? I pulled at the sheet but it was tucked in on the end of the bed so I gave up, my hands falling over my face but it wasn't all skin that I felt. My fingers slid over my hair to something sticking out and I pushed against it and it brought the throbbing back.

"Fuck" I groaned and finally opened my tired eyes to see that I wasn't in the guest bedroom, I was in a hospital room. Then the memories of what happened started to come back slowly.

"Abigail, it's good to see you're finally awake, how are you feeling?" A male doctor asked as he walked in through the open door and I watched him.

"I'm feeling a lot of pain" I told him and pushed myself up slowly to sit.

"Here let me adjust that for you" He said as he put down his clip board and grabbed the bed remote and held a button down as the bed up righted itself so I was sitting comfortably. "Do you remember why you're here?" He asked and I nodded

"I fainted but I didn't think it was major enough for me to wind up here, Doc" I moved my hands down over my blue hospital gown draped thighs.

"You needed 5 staples. When you hit your head you cut it open" He briefly explained

"Oh" I whispered out, I guess I really did faint.

"Your husband brought you in last night; I'll have one of the nurses call him to let him know you've woken up"

"My husband…?" I said with raised eyebrows and he nodded "Jax?" I asked and he nodded again.

"He left about an hour ago actually so he'll be glad to know you woke up. So the pain is just in the head?" He asked as he pulled a pen from his white doctor's jacket and made me follow it with my eyes to make sure I didn't have a concussion.

"Yeah, it's just throbbing"

"I'll give you a small dosage of Demerol, your husband wasn't sure of your allergies"

"That's because I'm not allergic to anything, he forgets all of the time" I played off and he nodded while writing something down.

"Great" He said "I'll have the nurse on call come in and give you that and get your husband back in here. You do have a mild concussion but I'm not too worried about that, the nurse will go over precautions and such before you check out"

"Thank you" He left after that with his clipboard and I sighed while moving the bed back down to lay. Did Jax really tell him he was my husband? I rolled my eyes and snuggled deeper into the small mattress just as a women came in through the door with a few things in her hands.

"Hi, I'm Mary, the on-call nurse today"

"You're about to become my new best friend if that's pain medication in your hand" I told her as Mary smiled wide.

"It sure is, did Dr. Stedman go over the effects?" I shook my head as she put the things down that were in her hands.

"Well it takes effect rather quickly, you'll feel drowsy mostly. The only thing you have to do is relax"

"I bet it's the type of pain medication that makes some people freak out right?"

"Sometimes" She whispered to me "So just lay back and enjoy it is what I tell patients"

"Sounds good to me" She took my arm as she wiped a small alcohol wipe against the crease of my elbow and then put the needle together.

"I'll go over how to treat the concussion when your husband gets back, I put in a quick call to him before coming in here and he said he'll be here in a few minutes" I nodded while she easily found a good vein and the pinch wasn't bad when the needle slid into my skin and slowly she pushed the medicine into my system.

She wasn't kidding when she said it took effect quickly. She was only halfway done with pushing the clear liquid into my arm before I felt the first drowsiness hit and my eyes began to droop.

"There we are, feel good?" She asked and I nodded numbly as she put a small piece of gauze against the spot where she poked me and taped it there. "If you need anything else just press this button here" She showed me on the remote and I nodded again as she smiled and left the room.

"Holy cow" I mumbled as I closed my eyes and let the medicine sink into my bones. The pain was completely gone, I couldn't feel anything actually. No wonder why people got addicted to pain pills, this feeling was much needed after the night I just had. Thoughts were void right now, which was something I was thankful for.

"Abby" I heard from somewhere in the rectangle room and my eyes fluttered open.

"Mmm Jackson" I mumbled as his fingers traced down the side of my face and I smiled.

"You scared me babe, how are you feeling?" He asked and I shrugged.

"I just gave her some strong pain medication; I'm Mary the on-call nurse right now" Jax turned around "She'll be out of it for a while." He nodded as he looked back down at me as I looked up at him before closing my tired eyes again. "I know you filled out a report last night on what happened, but I'd like to go over a few things if you don't mind?"

"Yeah sure, did the doctor come in to check on her?" His hand slid into mine while his thumb grazed the back of it.

"He did, your wife has a mild concussion but he's not concerned about that. The nurse on-call last night noticed two other scars on her scalp after putting the staples in, do you know where those came from?" Jax's hand squeezed mine gently and shook his head.

"No idea…" He said

"Hmm, how long have you too been married Mr. Teller?" She asked him while writing something down

"What's that have to do with her health?" He asked, his voice sounding irritated now.

"It's just a question. It seems you don't know a lot about your wife"

"It's recent" He whispered with a shake of his head before he saw the brunette walk into the room with a coffee in her hand, glasses over her eyes but she stopped and pushed the glasses up onto her head.

"Oh I didn't know you came back" She said and then she looked over at the nurse. "Something going on?" She asked and then looked over at me. I turned my lazy head and looked over at her with a smile.

"Hi Misha" I breathed and she smiled while walking to the other side of the bed.

"Hey how are you feeling?" She asked

"Better, much better" Misha smiled and patted my arm gently before turning her attention to the nurse.

"Maybe you can shed some light on some questions I have, Misha is it?"

"Michelle" She pointed out at the nurse "What questions?"

"I was asking Mr. Teller here about his wife's scars on her scalp"

"Jax" I whispered and he turned his head to look at me again

"What is it darlin'?"

"Can you get me some water?" I asked him trying to get him out of the room and he looked over at Misha who nodded. He looked down at me and kissed my forehead gently before leaving the room.

"Go ahead" I told Misha and took in a deep breath once he was out of the room.

"Abby was in an abusive relationship before Jax, that's where those scars came from" The nurse, Mary, looked at me and I nodded to tell her the Misha was telling the truth.

"There wasn't any…" Mary started but I interrupted her

"I lived in Mississippi at the time, that's where the scars are from so can you please not insinuating that my husband gave me them because he didn't know" Mary quickly nodded.

"I apologize" She said and I turned my head to look at Misha.

"When can I get out of here?" I asked Mary without looking at he when Jax came walking back in through the open door and handed me the cup of cold water in which I took a few sips from after giving him a smile.

"About an hour, I'll get the paperwork set up so we can get you signed out. Mr. Teller, she'll have to be monitored overnight due to the concussion, if the pain gets worse bring her right in" He nodded her way briefly before his attention was back on me. Mary left and Jax sat back down in the seat next to my bed.

"This is a fucking mess" I muttered after finishing the water and used the remote to sit myself up "Has Jean tried calling?" I asked.

"We aren't talking about that mess; we're going to talk about this mess alright?" Misha said and I nodded, the last thing I needed was a headache. "Husband? Really Jax?"

"Fuck Michelle what did you want me to say? They wouldn't let me stay here overnight if I wasn't family" He explained while leaning back in his seat.

"You were supposed to be with her, we wouldn't be here right now if…"

"Stop it" I said, already feeling the throbbing coming back from her bickering. "He was going inside to get keys; this is my fault for not being able to breathe." She looked down at me and sighed deeply. "Now tell me if Jean called."

"She did earlier, I told her that something came up and you weren't going back until Saturday with me. The cops are doing an investigation so we'll be needed bright and early on Sunday at the police station to answer questions."

"Investigation?" I asked

"Someone killed him Abs, so yeah, we're going to be answering questions about shit we don't know about" She rubbed the side of her face. Someone had killed Max? Shit, things just got worse didn't they? "Oh by the way" She said while pulling my phone out of her purse "Some looney bin keeps texting you weird shit, here" She handed me the phone and I scrolled over the three new texts, it was from that same unknown person.

_'The agony did not diminish'_

_'Man could not be man nor God God'_

_'The agony grew, and the crow grinned."_

"Fucking weirdo, wrong number once again, thanks" She nodded while I put the phone down in my lap. "So… sorry I worried you guys, I probably should have sat down once I started hyperventilating."

"Probably" Misha said as she patted her hand against mine forearm again "But it's okay, you're alright and that's all that matters. I filled my mom in on what's going on, back in L.A. and here, she nearly ran out to her car in her robe to come here this morning"

"Oh no" I whispered

"Yeah, it's whatever. I told her to stay at the house so she can coddle you when you get there" She looked over at Jax then "She also told me to tell you you're welcome over at the house to see her anytime you want"

"Because I'm obviously going nowhere but that comfortable guest bed for the day" I said and she nodded

"Thanks Michelle, I appreciate it" Jax said and she nodded towards him.

A half hour later I signed myself out and changed into the clothes Misha brought for me that were in her huge purse. "I can walk, you know" I said as Jax pushed the wheel chair I was sitting in.

"Just go with it, its hospital policy" Misha said beside me as she walked and pressed the elevator down arrow button and we waited. Once we were outside I got out of the chair and he pushed it off to the side in the lobby before his hand pressed to my lower back and we walked towards my jeep that Misha had drove over.

"I've got some shit to handle at the shop, I'll swing by tonight?" He whispered after Misha hopped into the driver's seat to give us a moment alone.

"Okay…" I said just before his lips pressed against mine gently and then he kissed my forehead while hugging my body to his. After pulling away from me, he pulled the passenger's door open and I hopped inside and kissed me again before closing it as he walked away to get to his bike. I leaned back in the seat while pulling the belt over and locking it into place over my lap.

"So he told Op that you two made it official last night before everything went to shit in a hand basket" She said as she drove down a side street.

"We did, I agreed to try it out… perfect timing right?" I asked while rubbing my hands down over my jeans. I wanted to shower and fall back into a bed to shut out the world for the rest of the day.

"As long as you know what you're getting yourself into I'm happy for the both of you, especially you. I haven't seen you this comfortable with a guy ever, it's a nice change" I smiled at her words "I also heard that your uncle is driving down here tomorrow"

"Another thing with perfect timing" I sighed

"I did say I'd be there with you when you met him if you wanted"

"I have to do this one by myself Mish but thank you" She turned into the driveway of the house a few minutes later and I unbuckled myself and got out of the car slowly and shut the door behind me.

"Oh sweetie!" Donna gushed once I stepped foot in the house, her arms wrapping around my small body.

"I'm okay" I told her as Misha shook her head.

"Mom… she's alright. A few stitches and some pain medication is all she needed" Misha wasn't going to tell her about the mild concussion because Donna would never stop asking if I was alright and tend to my every need.

"Are you sure you're alright? Do you want some food? I'll make you something" She said as she pulled away from me and I shook my head.

"No, really I'm okay. I just want a shower to wash this blood out of my hair and to sleep some more"

"Positive?" Donna asked and I nodded again.

"Thank you though, maybe later I'll be up for some food"

"Just say the word" I squeezed her hand gently before I walked up the steps to the bedroom.

"I'll let you shower, I'm going to call Opie so when you're done if you need to talk about anything just come in" Misha told me once she was in front of her door and I smiled over at her.

"I was serious about sleeping Mish, I'm so tired"

"That's the concussion talking" She whispered so her mother didn't hear her down the stairs.

"I'm not supposed to sleep when I have one of those right? I think I heard that before somewhere"

"Yeah you're not but it's whatever, if you're not up in a couple of hours I'll come in and check on you"

"Thanks again"

"Don't sweat it" I entered the bedroom and quickly discarded my clothes and tossed my phone onto the bed. I was careful in the shower to not pull at the stitches because I had done that before and it wasn't a great feeling. After a quick shave and washing my hair twice, I shut the water off and stepped out of the bathtub and towel dried my hair so it wasn't dripping on the tank top I grabbed. Pulling on fresh underwear and my yoga shorts, I walked into the bedroom and climbed onto the bed while scooping up my phone.

_'Heard about Max, sorry for your loss' 'Any News on what happened?' _

I read over the texts from Stephanie, the woman who ran the dance studio in New York with a deep sigh and started typing a message back to her.

_'I'm still on vacation, heading home Saturday. I'll find out more then, keep you updated'_

I pressed the top button on my IPhone and it popped up on the screen if I wanted to shut it off, I slid my finger until the screen turned black and I put it up on the night stand next to the bed and rolled over onto my side between the sheets and shut my burning eyes.

There was going to be so much to deal with when we got back home. Police interviews were the least of my problems, as of last night I didn't have a job to go home to because my boss of murdered. Murdered was such a disgusting word. Last night, after the call from Jean; I thought that Max was at the hotel on a bender and overdosed, dear god was I wrong about my assumption. Who would want to kill him? Max didn't cause troubles that he couldn't handle on his own. I would have to tell the police about his usage of drugs. It was going to get messy before they found the person or people that kill him and I knew it was going to be a rough ride.


	15. Chapter 15

**CHAPTER15! Sorry for the late update guys, I've been incredibly busy with work and a podcast I host. I'm going to try and get better at this, hopefully have 2 chapters up every week to satisfy those Abby and Jax cravings. So on with the story and the much awaiting drama.**

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"Shit" I heard after a loud thud and it startled me from my slumber. My eyes shot open and I turned my body to look in through the dark room. My erratic heart rate slowed when I recognized the figure bending down to reach for something on the ground and he stood.

"What are you doing Jax?" I asked while raking my fingers back through my hair carefully.

"Fuck" He hissed while looking over at me "Shit babe you scared me"

"I scared you? You're the one who scared me. What are you doing here?" I asked him again while the phone that he must have dropped blinked a blue light to signal a message "Is that my phone?" I asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Donna let me in and yeah… it is" He put the phone back down on the dresser

"What were you doing with it?" I asked him as an unsettled feeling hit my stomach.

"Michelle just asked me to check into the texts you've been getting so I was- "

I was quick to interrupt him while pushing the sheets away from my legs "So you decided to go through my phone while I slept instead of just ask me to see them?" I sighed deeply and shook my head when he didn't answer me and I stood up from the bed carefully, feeling the throbbing hit my head once I did and I grabbed the nightstand to steady myself. He rushed over and wrapped an arm around my lower back so I wouldn't sway from my feet. "I've got it" I told him in a sigh.

"Just sit back down" He said while he guided me to sit on the edge of the mattress.

"The person obviously has the wrong number… I just don't appreciate people going through my things. If you want this to work between us Jax… you have to trust me to tell you if something's up, so you're getting off easy because my head is absolutely killing me right now."

"Noted" He whispered while bringing his fingers up to the side of my face "What do you need?"

"Just you" I said while my fingers ran up over the buttons on his cut

"I can do that darlin'" He whispered while slouching down and he kissed me quickly before shredding himself of his white Nike's, his leather cut as well as his jeans. But before he hopped into the bed with me, he walked over to the dresser and grabbed the phone again.

"Seriously Jackson, just drop it" I pulled the sheets up to my waist as he sat up against the headboard beside me.

"I will once you answer a question for me"

"Fine" I mumbled

"Do you know a Ted Hughes?" His fingers scrolled over the screen again to bring up the unknown text messages.

"The name sounds familiar why?"

"These words are from a few poems by that guy"

"How do you know that?" I asked

"I googled it babe" He said matter-of-factly and I could have hit him.

"Of course you did" He scrolled to a new text that popped up suddenly and I read over the message.

_"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."_

"Great now the weirdo is quoting the fucking bible" I grabbed the phone and tossed it to the side and then snuggled into his warm side.

"Babe this can't go unnoticed ya know. With your boss getting murdered and you all of a sudden getting strange texts since you came here…"

"You think it's the same person?" I asked while raising my head up to look down at him "I have no idea who would want Max dead; I never met any of his drug dealers either."

His fingers ran down my bare shoulder gently and then he sighed while putting his head back against the headboard."Alright, I'll drop it for now but if that fucker texts you one more time, you tell me alright?"

"Of course" I whispered while pressing my lips against his gently as my fingers trailed down his white t-shirt and to the waistband of his boxers. His hand caught mine before I could dip it any lower. "What?" I asked with a small pout on my lips.

"Doctors' orders not to do any extreme activities Abs"

"Fuck the doctor's orders, I thought you were an outlaw" I cocked an eyebrow up and a quick grin showed on his face before he kissed me with a little more hunger.

* * *

My fingers ran over the few stitches in my scalp before I pulled the hair back down to cover them. I was way too fucking clumsy sometimes and it usually ended up this way. Sprains, bruises, or in this case an overnight stay at the hospital with stitches in my head.

"Are you almost ready?" Misha asked while she walked into the bedroom after I applied the last few touches to my outfit by throwing on my black shadow-striped cardigan. "Trying for a good first impression?" She asked and I turned towards her as she looked at the distressed black denim shorts and the white Ramones tank top I wore "Or not… how's the head?"

"My clothes are fine, you could always look a lot less flashy Hollywood, and for the thousandth time my head is feeling fine"

"Silly me to think the coffee would have helped this morning" She said bitterly while turning around to leave the room. I let out a deep sigh and shook my head.

"I'm sorry, hey…" I walked out of the bathroom after her and she turned back around to look at me "I'm just nervous, as well as stressed and it's not a great combo this afternoon."

"It's okay" She whispered while she looked down at my bare feet "I know of a way you can make it up to me for being a bitch" I rolled my eyes at her playful tone.

"Fine but nothing too over the top please, I know I'm not riding on a bike today but seriously… no way!" I gushed when she pulled out a pair of black pumps from the bottom of my suitcase "Did you put those in there?"

"Of course I did and you're totally wearing them. You're going to show your uncle who abandoned you that you're a confident, sexy woman who wears heels bigger than his dick and just so happens to have the vice-prez wrapped around her finger"

"You're killing me Mish" a small laugh escaped my lips.

"Oh I know babe but seriously, wear them!" She tossed the shoes at me and I was quick to grab them before they hit me. "And I'll even drive so meet me down by the car in 5 minutes because we were supposed to be there already."

"Aye Aye Captain" I gave her a lazy salute before pulling the heels onto my feet and wiggling my toes in them so that they were as comfortable as I was going to get them. I grabbed the silvery ballet flats and shoved them into my bag for later use because I knew my feet would be killing in a few hours.

The nerves hit my stomach again once I turned the laptop towards me to look at the old photograph. I had put the laptop on to show Jax the old photos this morning around 10 before he left to go on a small errand for the club. He laughed at how young and handsome Kozik looked, and then asked what the hell happened to him in a joking manner. I didn't know the Kozik that the club members knew, I know Herman Kozik as my uncle who everyone thought had died or just went missing. But I also remembered the times he was around down in Mississippi visiting. How he'd take me to the park, how every time I wanted to throw around the baseball in a game of catch, he was there front and center. He was more of my dad those times than my own drunken father was. He was there during the summers, when I lost my first tooth while wrestling with him in the pool at the watering hole. He was in most of my favorite memories while I was a kid, but I no longer knew this man.

Was I really seeing him again within 15 minutes? I couldn't even fathom that he was still alive to be honest. It was a surreal feeling, but also an unsettling one. I had a lot of questions for him; the first one being, why did he just stop being in contact with me. I had been stuck in a god-awful town with parents who only cared about drinking or church. No wonder why I viewed myself as fucked-up sometimes, just look at my past. I shut the laptop with a little too much force but didn't care at that point. I had to get this over with.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Misha asked as we stayed seating in the front seats of my jeep in the parking lot at T-M.

"It's a little late to bail out now, don't you think?" I asked while I ran my fingers back over my thighs to try and get the nervous sweat off of them.

"We can always leave; I'll call Op and say you weren't feeling well"

"I can't do that" I whispered while I looked in the side mirror.

"Yes you can"

"No I mean… really I can't, they're all outside and I can see Jax looking over here" I turned my head to look at her and she was looking through the rear view mirror at the group of bikers.

"And here comes the knight in shining armor" She said just as my door was pulled open and I jumped slightly. I looked at Jax and he slouched a bit while looking into the car.

"You two ladies coming out or do we need to call in a rescue mission?" He asked and I rolled my eyes. He was also so charming.

"I'm taking a minute" I told him and he glanced back over at the group of guys before his eyes fell back on me.

"He's inside with Clay and Hap, I think this might be the right time to get out of the car" He leaned over me and pressed down on the release button and the seat belt came undone.

"You're unbelievable" I whispered towards him

"And you're stubborn; we already talked about this this morning Abs." He went to take my hand to help me out of the car but I passed it once I stood up on the pavement. "Wow" I heard him mumble before shutting the door closed.

"See something you like Jackson?"

"There's a lot I like right about now" I pushed at his shoulder once the words were out of his mouth and he laughed while wrapping his arm around my lower back and pulled me into his hard body. "How are you feeling?"

"Nervous" I whispered

"Not that, your head"

"Oh…" I shook my head "I'm okay, stitches are just a nuisance right now" He kissed my forehead gently before capturing my lips. My hand tugged on the material of leather on his stomach and pulled back to look his face over. "So when Clay called Kozik down here… he did tell him he'd be seeing me right?"

Jax didn't answer me right away but there was a hesitation in his voice when he did "Yeah of course."

"You're an awful liar"

"I've been told that before" I kissed him again quickly before leaving his embrace to head over to the picnic table and the full group of cuts.

"My southern beauty, what a pleasure" Chibs said while he caught me in his arms in a good, hearty hug. The night of the barbeque he had stumbled upon the table I was sitting at inside with Misha before his dive with the busty woman onto the couch. We spoke for a good half hour to get to know each other a bit better, and let me tell you something, that man was funny as hell. He had me grabbing my sides in laughter with his lame, but witty jokes the whole chat.

"How's the only Scotsman I know?" I asked and he pulled back but put his hands down onto my shoulders and squeezed them gently.

"I'm quite well, how's the head kid?"

"Sore but nothing I can't handle."

"Bro, who is this and why don't I know her?" A new man came up and wrapped an arm around Chibs' shoulders. He was very tanned, light-Hispanic, with a bald head and plenty of tattoos along his arms.

"Abigail" I said towards the man and his eyebrows rose.

"Happy" He said and a small smile sprang up onto my lips. So this was the man that Jax warned me about.

"She's off limits, brother" Happy turned his head towards Jax who was walking up behind me and his hand slid along my back. He liked to do that, I thought. He liked to stake me as his around everyone in the club. It was nice but I could stick up for myself sometimes.

"Got it" Happy said while he looked me over once more and smirked "Great meeting you."

"Very macho man of you" I said up at Jax and he shook his head.

"Believe me; I just saved him from a set of blue balls. The guy had a fucking hard on when he saw you" My eyes widened at his words and then he looked down at me and gave me a quick kiss "Sorry."

"Thank you" I whispered and he nodded before his hand slid into mine.

"Talked to Clay, he didn't tell him that you were coming… but I'll be right there with you if you-"

"I can handle it" I told him and then took in a deep breath "Is he still inside?"

"Yeah, grabbing a few beers"

"I think I'll go help him, if I'm not back in 10 minutes come inside to make sure I didn't kill him accidentally" He let out a small chuckle and I squeezed his hand.

"Tell Sack that I need his help with something out here, will you?" I nodded before leaving his side and walked up the few steps before pulling the door open. He was right; I had to get this done and stop being stubborn and scared.

He was behind the bar with Half-Sack pulling beers up from a case to toss them into a cooler full of ice. I stayed quiet as he spoke and took in his features. He still looked like my uncle, except for the tattoo on the side of his neck and the defined age wrinkles in his face. He sounded the same too. God was I really expecting him to look different or sound different? It had been 18 years since I last saw him so maybe I shouldn't had put too much thought into this.

"Hey Kip…" He looked over at me as well as my uncle "Jax said he needed your help with something outside, I'll help him out with the rest."

"You sure?" He asked as he tossed the bottle into the cooler gently and I nodded

"Positive" I whispered mostly to myself to try and get my feet to move from the spot they had stopped in once Herman Kozik had looked at me. I could still feel him looking at me as Cherry stood up from the side table and followed Kip outside. I took in another deep breath and started to finally walk over to the bar area.

"Jax sent you in here to help me?" He asked and I nodded at his words, trying to avoid looking at him for too long so I didn't look creepy. "Well then, guess it's my lucky day… names Kozik." He held his hand out to me but I didn't take it to shake, instead my mind went into overload and I started to ramble without filtering the words.

"Before you start hitting on me and you make this really awkward for the both of us, you should probably know that I already know who you are and you don't know who I am because you were a real fucking jackass who didn't ever call to check in on his family once after I turned seven. So excuse me for not wanting to shake your hand Uncle Herman" I put a hand over my mouth to stop myself and it worked but he was looking at me like I was a damn ghost. In a way I was a ghost to him, and he a ghost to me.

"Shit" was the first word that came from him. I was expecting something along the lines of an apology but I understood why he said that. I just laid down all the shit I reminded myself not to say to him right away, I would be having the same reaction if I were him.

"Is that all you have to say?" I asked him and he raked his hand over his face as he looked me over again.

"What are you doing here? How did you find me?"

"Are you really the one asking me the questions right now?" I asked and a small sarcastic laugh came from my mouth "Hi, I'm Abigail Kozik. Matt, your brothers daughter, who died a few years ago but don't worry you didn't have to call, by that time I thought you were dead."

"What?" He asked, his already ashen face paling a bit.

"Which part do you need me to repeat?"

"Matt's dead?" He asked. I wasn't expecting that. How could he have not known that his brother had died?

"I… um… yeah he died 3 years ago" I said a little taken back by his look. He sincerely looked hurt and confused, as he stumbled back onto the bar stool against the wall, I took a step forward and grabbed his arm to make sure he didn't fall. "I didn't mean to blurt it out like that… I thought you knew"

"Last I talked to him was the last time I saw you… you've really grown up"

"It's been nearly 19 years" I whispered and he nodded while he ran his hands over his face and I let his arm go "So you don't know anything."

"Where's your mom?" He asked and I blinked a few times and now it was my time to take a few steps back.

"She passed away when I was fourteen"

"Shit Abby" He put his head back against the wall "Fuck I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault" I told him while shoving a hand into my front pocket and shrugged. This hadn't been how I imagined our first conversation going at all.

"If I had known I would have gone to the funeral, been there…"

"But you didn't… in a way I always thought my dad secretly kept in contact with you but I guess I was wrong"

"How'd it happen?" He asked

"Breast cancer came back, chemo stopped working. Dad got liver disease"

"I told that son of a bitch to stop fucking drinking" He muttered and then he looked up at me "Are you okay?"

"It wasn't easy but I survived" I whispered and he nodded "And to answer your questions, I'm in Charming because my best friend and I came up here for vacation to welcome her brother home from a tour overseas… and I accidentally found you because I said my last name and there was Tig and Clay telling me they knew you."

"Why are you hanging around these fools?" He asked.

"I'm sort of seeing-"

"No you're not" He said as he interrupted me "You're not seeing a Son."

"I am" I told him

"For fucks-sake Abigail no you aren't"

"I'm 24, not 7. I can make my own decisions you know" I put a hand on my hip and he couldn't keep the straight, authority driven face on for much longer; a break of a smile showed on his lips.

"You sound like your mother"

"What?"

"Your mom, she was very stubborn too." I hadn't expected that either.

"My mom hated you and never spoke to you if memory serves me right, how do you know that?"

"I just do… it doesn't matter. You really grew up into a beautiful girl Abby, never for a second I doubted that. But this whole seeing a Son, it's not going to happen"

"Unfortunately for you it already has happened, you know I didn't even want to get out of the car when I got here but Jax almost dragged me out of it"

"You're seeing Jax? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"No I'm not"

"No wonder why he was slap fucking happy earlier when he was on the phone with his quote unquote girl, at least it's not Tiger"

"Tig? Now are you kidding me? That man could be my father" He chuckled and shook his head

"Just be glad he's not…" As if on cue the door opened and Jax came strolling in, had it already been 10 minutes?

"Everything good in here?" He asked and Kozik stood up from the stool and I shook my head when his chest puffed out a little bigger.

"Better than imagined, if you wouldn't mind giving us a few more minutes?" He looked from Kozik to me before nodding and leaving us. "You can calm your manliness now because I do have a question I need you to answer."

"You probably won't like the answer" He said while he tossed another beer into the cooler.

"I don't really care, I just need it answered. Why did you stop coming around?" He turned towards me and sighed deeply.

"This is past shit you don't need to know about Abby, just be glad you found me now"

"No, I'm not going to be satisfied until I know what the real truth is."

"Mary told me to stop coming around, so I did as I was told, especially after your dad backed her up"

"Why would my parents tell you to leave? I thought everything was fine"

"You were seven, you didn't see the shit that happened behind closed doors of course you'd think everything was fine. Just leave it in the past, its stupid shit that doesn't need to be brought up" He hesitantly brought a hand up and squeezed my upper arm gently. "Tell me what you're doing in your life, other than the vice-prez" I rolled my eyes and grabbed a beer from the cooler and used the beer opener on the edge of the bar's counter top to open it and took a long sip. If I was going to stop thinking about that question I would need a few drinks.

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_**Abigail only has 2 more days left in Charming! Oh no :( What do you think Herman Kozik is hiding? Also who the hell is sending those weird bible and poem texts to Abby? Soon all will be revealed - LC**_


	16. Chapter 16

**Reviews, Favorites, or Follows are always nice! Keep it coming and this story will keep on producing quick chapters! xo**

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"A dancer? A fucking hip-hop dancer?" He asked while he closed the lid of the cooler and I downed the rest of my beer while sitting up on top of the bar's counter.

"Yes a fucking hip-hop dancer" I repeated for the one hundredth time "But I do all types of dancing, just hip-hop is my specialty."

"Wow, that's different…" He scratched the back of his blonde head and leaned his side against the counter beside me "How's the pay in that?"

"It's pretty good, glad I saved most of it because it looks like I'm out of a job"

"Why's that?" He asked

"My boss was murdered" I said a little too casually as I went to grab another beer but he stopped me

"When the fuck did that happened?"

"Couple of days ago… still trying to wrap my head around it actually but I really don't want to talk about it now" He ignored me

"Who was it?" He asked

"I don't know. All I know is that I'll be answering questions at the police station once I go home on Saturday, but seriously no more questions about that. So Washington is alright?" I asked him while bending down to snatch another beer, he did the same and hopped up on the bar stool opposite me.

"It's fine, thinking of switching charters soon" I raised an eyebrow after taking a long sip from the bottle.

"Why?"

"I get on better with the guys here except for tig but that's a whole other fucking story"

"Yeah what's going on with that situation? Tig really doesn't like you"

"He doesn't like me? You don't fucking say Abs" He said sarcastically with a shake of his head "There was this bitch, Missy, she was with me one day and ended up dead"

"What? How did she die?" I asked

"She got hit by a damn car, ran out into the street, it happened fast"

"Why was she running out into the street?" I asked a bit confused

"Saw something she liked, mailman or some shit I don't remember. It happened years ago but Tig won't let it go." I started laughing now and he downed some more of his beer.

"This grudge is over a dog? Uncle Koz I thought this was over an actual woman who died. Jeez you both need to drop it because I'm pretty sure Tig won't let you in this charter if you still hold grudges over petty stuff like that"

"Petty" He muttered while taking another sip of his beer "I loved that dog"

"I'm sure you did, I'm not saying you didn't. But there are wars over worse stuff than just a dog dying by accident. Maybe try apologizing; the dog did die on your watch"

"Me? I'm the one that's supposed to apologize? Fuck, did he tell you this story already to try and get you to sucker me into saying sorry?"

"No… this is the first time I've heard of it. I knew of the animosity between the two of you but I really thought it was over something much worse. So get over it and be the bigger man and apologize, maybe you'll be able to actually have him as a friend because he is a pretty funny guy"

"He's probably hit on you, should probably beat the shit out of him"

"I can handle Tig, plus Jax has basically showed everyone that I'm with him so there haven't been any problems" I hopped off of the counter top and my heels clicked on the cement.

"Ridiculous how much you've grown up girl. Sort of surprised you aren't in Mississippi being a housewife isn't that what your mother wanted?"

"Yeah well… I'm glad I got out when I did." I left it at that because as much as getting to know my uncle was over the past half hour, he didn't need to know about my past that he could have saved me from. "I'm going to head back out, I'm sure Misha is wondering where I am by now."

"You'll have to introduce me to her; she sounds like an alright kid"

"Yeah I will, see you out there" He nodded as I smiled at him and walked away.

The nerves from seeing him again were gone but now my thoughts were left with more questions. He hadn't really answered any of the questions I had for him. He did tell me that my parents basically disowned him and told him to never come back to Mississippi again. That was an interesting one. What in the hell did he do to get disowned by my dad? My mom was the obvious, because they never liked each other. It was surprising to hear that he knew more about my mom than I thought he knew. Something was fishy and I would get to the bottom of it someday.

"How'd it go? I don't see any blood on you so either you're great at cleaning shit up or…"

"It went really well actually, there are things that I found out that I needed to and what's done is done. Just glad he's only a phone call away now" Jax's arm slid over my shoulders as he pulled me into his side and he pressed his lips against the side of my head. One of the first things I asked Uncle Koz for was his number and he was happy enough to give it to me, mostly in case of emergencies. He said that he was going to try and be my uncle again even if I was in Los Angeles.

"Good, he wasn't a dick about anything?" He asked and I let out a small laugh but shook my head.

"No, not in the slightest" I tipped the beer up to my lips again and he took the bottle from me after to take a swing from it "You know you could always get your own…?"

"Or I could drink this one considering you're not supposed to be drinking"

"You're no fun" I mumbled and he chuckled.

"Jax" I lifted my head from his shoulder and looked over at Gemma "Abby, how are you doing?"

"It's better Gemma, thank you" She smiled gently at me before she looked back at her son.

"I'll be back babe" he handed me the half empty beer before kissing me quickly and left with his mother. I raised an eyebrow and ran my fingers back through my hair casually while my phone buzzed in my purse. I dug through it once I put the beer down on the picnic table and pulled it out to see a text from Jean.

_'You and Mish need to be at the police station by 6 the latest on Saturday night'_

_'Thanks for doing that Jean, I appreciate it. How are you holding up?' _I typed back quickly

_'As good as I can be giving the circumstances, Max's mom came over from Fresno, said that she wants to do a funeral on next Thursday so if you could get in contact with his friends, you know his close ones…'_

_'Yeah of course, I'll send that out now. Thanks again, see you this weekend'_ I pulled up a few names who I knew would be there no doubt next Thursday and sent a quick text to each of them with the details before tossing my phone back into my purse.

"Heard about your friend, if you need anything at all just let the club know" Clay said once he walked up to the side of me, his eyes watching Jax and his wife speak in secret across the parking lot.

"Thanks Clay" I smiled up at him gently and he nodded.

"You and Jax look pretty serious, how's this going down once you leave?" He asked bluntly

"To be honest I have no idea but we said we'd try and make it work. It's not like I'm never coming back here, Misha is planning on moving back here next month to be with Opie"

"Were you planning on doing the same?"

"Right now everything is up in the air. I don't have a job any more down in L.A, I might have no choice because the only person who could keep me there would have been Mish"

"And she's moving back" He commented and I only nodded while shoving a hand into my front pocket while taking a few sips of the cold beer before putting it back down onto the table behind me.

"I have a lot to think about after I leave that's for sure. I have more ties here, especially with Uncle Koz back in my life… and Jax. I know it hasn't even been a week but I have a feeling I'd be pretty lost without him in my life, which probably sounds crazy…"

"Might be crazy but that's what happens sometimes, I know that's how it happened with me and Gemma. Just after John died she needed someone and I ended up being that lucky fool" I smiled gently at his words.

"I guess we're just all crazy fools" I whispered and he chuckled softly.

"You're alright by me Abby. Plus with all the shit Jax has been through, haven't seen him act this way in years; he's happy for once in his damn life. So think about staying, or moving to Charming because you're family now whether you fucking like it or not"

"Thank you Clay"

"Don't mention it darling" He smiled down at me quickly before leaving my side. All I ever wanted was a family who actually appreciated me and within 5 days of being here I found that missing piece in my life within this club. Blood or not, all of the members of the Sons of Anarchy had wiggled their way into my heart. There was no way I could continue my life in Los Angeles and just leave all of them behind. It just so happens that the lease on the condo Misha and I have was up in just over a month, we had been looking into new places before this week started. Like I said to Clay, I had a lot to think about.

"So you're Kozik's niece" Happy stated while he leaned down and grabbed a beer from the cooler on the table.

"I am, surprised?" I asked

"Not at all, he mentioned a few years back that he had a girl out east somewhere but never thought you would be the fucking spitting image of him" I raised an eyebrow at his words.

"I don't look like him that much…"

"Except that you're tan and not a fucking white ghost like his ass" I pursed my lips and then bit down on my bottom lip gently.

"Hmm, I guess we do look a lot alike I guess, my dad… his brother and him could have passed for twins when they were growing up"

"That's probably it then" the way he said it got me a little confused

"What do you mean?" I asked

"I didn't mean nothing 'bout it, you two just look a lot a fucking alike."

"Happy is actually talking to a beautiful woman without pissing his shit, damn what's this?" Tig said while he came up to us to grab himself a beer as well.

"Shut the fuck up Tiger" Happy growled over at the other man and I smirked.

"He's not making you uncomfortable sweetheart is he? Cause he does that" Tig said towards me with his eyes glancing over at Happy next to me.

"Tig, please shut up" I said to him and he smiled wide

"Anything for you, so how'd meeting dickhead go?"

"If you're talking about my uncle than it went great, but his name isn't dickhead. You two needs to get over your shitty grudge already"

"What'd he tell you?"

"He told me the story about Missy, the dog who died on his watch" I explained

"And you tell me to get over it, sweetheart you have no fucking idea how long I can hold a grudge, especially against his dumbass. You'll learn soon enough, the guy's dumb as shit" I rolled my eyes and shook my head at him, not in the mood to hear him complaining and calling my uncle names any further, I walked away from both men.

"Way to fucking piss her off" Happy threw over at Tig while I walked towards Misha who was sitting on Opie's knee at a set-up table by the line of motorcycles.

"Hey how'd it go?" She asked as I sat myself in the plastic chair next to the happy couple.

"Great… I'll talk to you about it later" She nodded and smiled "Speaking of the devil and he shall appear…" I murmured lowly as the blonde man walked over and put the cooler we had been filling inside and dropped it down next to an empty chair.

"Who needs a cold one?" He asked and handed three out before he sat down and put his foot up on the side of the steel cooler and looked over at me.

"Uncle Koz, this is Misha" I motioned with my head and he looked at the curly head brunette.

"Hey great to meet you finally" She said first before leaning over and shaking his hand gently.

"Same here, heard great things… thanks for taking care of her" A small smile tugged on the corner of my lips as Misha nodded.

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The sound of his heartbeat against my ear was somehow louder than the blaring music in the bar. How was this even possible? His fingers grazed the exposed skin on my hips above my shorts. I was trying to commit all of this to memory because this was really the last time we were going to be able to do this for a while. Tomorrow he was busy practically all day, he did say he would stop by after his run, but that was going to be around 11. Misha and I had to be out of Charming and heading back home by 10 at the latest on Saturday morning. I was going to hold onto him as long as possible, especially when we got back to his place and tomorrow morning. I needed to savor every touch, every whisper, and every kiss from here on out.

His hand caught mine and he spun me as I laughed once I was pulled back into his body "And where did you learn that?"

"It's a secret" He said down against my ear.

"You're incredible, you know that?" My hands ran up his white t-shirt clad chest to hook them together behind his neck.

"Nah darlin' that's all you."

We continued to dance in the half-empty bar while a few of the Sons were drinking and playing pool, including a very drunk Misha. I had told her to slow down hours ago but she just ignored me and decided to accept another shot from Bobby. I watched from the corner of my eye as she stumbled back against the table and Opie caught an arm around her waist to steady her. Thankfully I had driven my jeep over here because something was wrong with Opie's bike and I knew people would be heavily drinking, so maybe that's why Misha was having every drink under the sun.

I on the other hand had only accepted one shot from Bobby and a beer. I wasn't supposed to be drinking and I really wanted to remember this night so I was trying to be responsible. But every time someone would buy me a shot, Jax would snatch it away and drink it… meaning he was on his last legs before he was shit-faced. He handled himself well though, he wasn't sloppy yet but he was very hands-on. I wasn't complaining for a second but when I had bent over the pool table to take a shot earlier, I thought Kozik was going to punch Jax in the face for leaning over my backside and pushing his hips up against my ass.

Seeing him this tipsy though was something else I'll have to carry with me if I'm having a bad day, because he was an absolute riot this way. He was incredibly carefree and he tossed jokes around like there was no tomorrow. He wasn't worrying about something every minute and I was happy about that, and as my short tipped fingernails scraped against his scalp gently he let out a small sound of approval against the side of my head before dipping his head so his lips pressed against mine.

He was mine for the time being and I had to enjoy that "Can we get out of here?" I asked "The bars closing in just a half hour."

"Sounds like a great fucking idea, I'll be right there" I nodded while he headed towards the men's room and I walked over to the rowdy pool tables.

"If you two need a ride, we're leaving now…" I told Opie and he nodded as he pulled Misha up to her feet from the seat she was in.

"Leaving already? No fair" She whined and I rolled my eyes.

"Mish, the bars closing in a half hour anyways… besides thought you'd want more alone time considering you won't be getting any tomorrow" Misha grabbed my hands and started to laugh.

"You're absolutely right! We should have left hours ago"

"Probably, it would have saved you the massive hangover you're going to be having. Remember I have to be at the hospital to get the stitches out at ten"

"Then you're picking me up at Op's and driving us all to the club house"

"Exactly, are you going to remember that?"

"Probably not" She slurred while her arms wrapped around shoulders and hugged me tightly. I shook my head and put my hands on her back.

"Alright sweetie, let's get you to the car" Her arm stayed resting on my shoulders while I kept an arm secured around her lower back so when she stumbled while walking through the bar and to outside she wouldn't fall on her face. After getting her into the backseat, I hopped into the driver's seat and pulled the visor down and grabbed the keys and turned on the ignition. After a few minutes Jax came stumbling out from the door with Op right behind him, a cigarette hanging from Jax's lips and he lit it before he got into the car and I pressed the button on my door so that his window went down.

His hand stayed on my thigh as I drove, the other hand flicking the ash out the window. "Keep it in your pants, I'm almost there" I said at the two people making out in my backseat. Opie chuckled and kissed Misha one more time before he pulled away and she started to pout. I pulled into his driveway moments later and Opie helped Misha out of the backseat and then rested against the open window on the passenger's side to look in at us.

"Can you handle getting him inside?"

"Most definitely, nothing I can't handle. Try and get her to drink some water before she falls asleep alright?"

"Yeah I'll try" He said as Misha pawed at Opie's sides "See you tomorrow, brother."

"See ya, Op" Jax said as he gave his best friend a nod. Once I watched them get to his front door successfully, I pulled out of the driveway and headed towards Jax's house with his casual directions on how to get there.

"You're fucking gorgeous, you know that?" He slurred while I drove and his hand slid further up my smooth thigh "How the fuck did I get this lucky?"

"I don't know Jackson, I wish I could tell you" I parked in his driveway and shut the jeep off, putting the keys up into the visor again before I looked over at him.

"Smart mouth" He mumbled before leaning over the center console and bruising his lips against mine.

"Mmm, let's go inside" He nodded at my words and kissed me one last time before opening his door and I rushed out of mine to get to his side before he went spatter on the pavement. I wrapped an arm around his lower back, my hand gripping his white t-shirt as he pushed his house key into the front door while swaying on his feet. After the second try with turning a random key, he unlocked the door and pushed it open. I locked it behind us once we were inside and I watched him walk into the kitchen and he opened up the fridge and started to down some of the water jug.

I leaned up against the doorway as he tossed the empty jug into the sink and closed the fridge door while wiping his mouth with the back of his hand. "Take your shorts off" He said while proceeding to pull his shirt off and tossing it to the side.

"Such a gentleman" I mumbled

"I'm serious, take them off" He leaned his shoulder against the fridge and crossed his arms over his bare chest. I dropped my bag onto the floor by my feet and unbuttoned my shorts while keeping my eyes on his and then unzipped them before shimmying them down my thighs and I stepped out of them. Without him telling me, I pulled my cardigan off and dropped it onto the shorts; leaving me in my dark blue lace boy briefs and the black Ramones tank top. He walked over to me after a few impatient seconds and slid his hands to the base of my shirt and tugged it over my head. One of his hands stayed on my waist while the other grazed up the middle of my breasts to grip onto the side of my neck to kiss me passionately.


	17. Chapter 17

**I'm having super SOA withdrawals, I can't wait until I can start writing season one through this story. Again, if you liked it hated it leave me a quick review! Love you guys xo**

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My heart hectically pumped against my chest while I tried to catch my breath with my cheek pressed against his damp shoulder. The hours had rolled on and on but stopping wasn't anywhere near our thoughts until we had finally ended up in his bed. I was absolutely spent and I didn't know how much Jax had left in his tank to continue. "Shit" I heard him mumbled before he brought his hand that was on my lower back up to wipe against his face and back through his messy blonde hair.

The first traces of the morning sun were showing against the dark shades that hadn't yet been drawn. We were both going to be extremely tired but to be honest I'm sure we wouldn't be complaining, we had satisfied any itch we needed scratched over those late hours. "Are you still alive?" He asked in a very deep, husky tone.

"Barely" I took in one last breath before sitting myself up on his waist and I pressed my hands down against his chest "I bet I look amazing right now too."

His fingers traced down the shadow of my breast before he caught my eyes in the dimly lit room "You look thoroughly fucked; it's a good look on you." He smirked then and I couldn't help but smile back at him before removing myself from his skin to get on the other side of the bed.

"We should probably get a few hours of sleep, you'll be dead tired on that bike tomorrow and I don't need to hear you've been in a crash" He rolled onto his side and wrapped an arm around my waist to pull me against him again.

"Worried about me darlin'?"

"Of course I will be" I whispered honestly back to him while ghosting my fingers of my right hand over his hard jawline.

"Sleep sounds fucking amazing right now" I smiled before he kissed me once more before putting his head back down on his pillow and closed his eyes "Night Abs" He whispered and I smiled gently.

"Night Jax."

Sleeping wasn't something I was planning on doing; even if I was so damn sore and tired from our extra activities around the small house. I was taking mental pictures and committing them all into my memories for times when I was alone in my own room back in Los Angeles. I was completely and utterly falling for this man and it was scary. Every touch he laid on my body with his rough fingers I was sure to remember considering I could already see small finger print bruises against my hips. The love bites that adorned his collarbone and shoulder made me let out a small laugh, I was going to get him back for giving me a hickey and I sure did, those were sure to bruise over.

We still had so much to talk about, especially the discussion of my own fears. We were a couple now, we were together… but I wanted those crow eaters to know he was mine and only mine. I'd have to tell him tomorrow night that I wasn't okay with an open relationship, I wasn't going to get walked all over again, I was going to do this relationship by my terms this time around.

"Please just don't break my heart Jackson" I whispered a few moments later as his light snoring continued. I would never get over how peaceful he looked while he slept. I'm sure I would never fully grasp the understanding of what his true role was within the Sons of Anarchy but I was hoping that once I moved here eventually he would tell me the truth. For now though, I would go on ignoring that loaded answer.

Eventually I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I remembered was feeling something brush against the side of my face. My eyes fluttered open to see him still lying there where I had last seen him. He smiled when he saw that I was awake and I opened my mouth to speak but he pressed his finger gently to my lips and I closed my mouth. His blue eyes were so crystal clear; it felt like I was drowning in them while he stared at my face. Once his finger fell away from my mouth I stayed quiet. I knew what he was doing, it was the same thing I had been doing before I fell asleep.

"What time is it?" I whispered after another minute.

"9:30" he said back.

"I have to get to the hospital by 10 and we still need to shower"

"Why? I like the smell of me on you" My lower stomach clenched automatically at his choice of words "But you're probably right…" he finally said into the thick sexual tensioned air.

"Okay…" I whispered while rolling away from him and onto my feet. I was definitely sore, my inner thighs especially and for some reason the muscles under my tongue were sore as well. What a weird place to be sore. I looked back at him to see him lying on his back with the thin sheet hugging against his waist. "How on earth are you hard right now?" He chuckled at my question before looking over at me.

"You're naked babe, pretty sure my dick just likes you way too fucking much right now" I rolled my eyes and leaned down and picked up the empty ripped box of condoms and smirked.

"Well calm him down because we don't have time"

"Yes Ma'am." Jax got onto his feet and walked by me and out of the bedroom and I took in a deep breath while I watched him go. That man was perfect in all areas; he could totally be a nude model if this whole Biker thing didn't work out and I would be okay with that. "Are you coming or are you just going to stand there looking beautiful all morning?"

"Yes Sir" I threw back at him while my thoughts were cleared and I walked into the bathroom. The shower was much quicker with him washing my body and me washing his. We would both be supporting wet hair when we showed up at the hospital but I'm sure that was going to be the least of our worries.

As I pulled the fresh underwear from my bag, I slipped my feet into them and pulled the lace up to cover my naked body from him while he easily threw on a t shirt and boxers before tugging on his dark jeans. I fixed the v neck t shirt I had packed with me in the mirror on his dresser and then pulled my hair up into a high ponytail. While I zipped up my black skinny jeans and slipped my feet into the flat ballet shoes I brought, he was coming back into his bedroom with his cut on.

"Ready?" He asked and I nodded.

We were ten minutes late to the appointment but the doctor wasn't ready to see me yet anyways so that was okay. We waited another fifteen minutes before Jax's phone started to ring and the receptionist gave him a look to take it outside. He left to just be outside of the doors of the office and not even a minute later a woman doctor called my name. I stood up and followed after her down a hallway.

"Dr. Stedman isn't in this morning so I'm taking over his patients today" She explained while I sat up on the table in a separated room "I'm Dr. Knowles."

"Great" I whispered. I'd rather be working with a woman anyways; it made me feel more comfortable. She looked over my chart in his hands and nodded silently to herself.

"So you're from Los Angeles… what are you doing up in Charming?" She asked in a friendly way to start a conversation while she set up the supplies she needed to extract the stitches in my scalp.

"Vacation actually, heading back tomorrow morning"

"This must not have been a thing you thought would be happening on a vacation"

"You can say that again" I mumbled "Sometimes I'm just clumsy, really shouldn't faint when I'm on the pavement."

"Do you faint often?" She asked while she had me lay down on the table and tilted my head to the side and made me take my hair out of the pony tail to get the area cleaned and clear.

"Only if I'm having a serious panic attack, I use to take something for them a few years ago but I really haven't had the need for them"

"Why were you having a panic attack?" She asked "This is just numbing liquid and then I'll get onto taking them out, you might feel a slight pulling." I nodded before I felt the cool liquid against the spot of the cut before I went on answering her question.

"I had found out one of my friends had… passed away. It was sort of unexpected"

"Oh I'm sorry to hear that" She said while I felt the pulling and it caused me to close my eyes and think of something else. I had felt this feeling before years ago and it was sort of a trigger of memories I didn't want to resurface right now.

"Thank you" I whispered and opened my eyes to look at the wall painting of a sunrise and as a few minutes passed, the tugging feeling stopped and she stood up from the rolling chair she was sitting on.

"All set, it looks to be healing nicely for it only being 2 days. Did you need anything else Miss. Kozik?"

"I think that's all, thank you again"

"No worries, I'm going to give you this gel… it's the same numbing liquid I used and if the spot starts to get itchy this usually does the trick" She handed me the small tube and I smiled.

"Thank you" I slipped it into my bag and stood up from the table.

"I just need you to sign here and here, how does it feel?" I held the pen and signed the papers twice and shrugged.

"It's just a little sore but it's nothing I can't handle" She nodded before taking the pen back from my hand and closed the file. We walked out of the room and down the hallway again.

"Tracy, the receptionist at the front desk will take down your information and we'll get these files sent over to your doctor in Los Angeles…" She opened up the door for me to head back into the waiting room "Other than that I hope your stay in Charming wasn't all that bad."

I watched Jax stand up from a lightly cushioned chair and walk my way. I grabbed my hair band from my wrist and smiled at the doctor again "It wasn't too bad, thanks again." I gathered my hair together and pulled it into the high pony tail again.

"Tara?" I heard Jax say and I looked over at him with narrowed eyes before looking back at the doctor.

"Jax" She said with a surprising sigh.

"What are you doing back?" He asked quickly

"I just moved back a couple of weeks ago… didn't think you'd still be living in Charming to be honest." My eyebrows rose when it finally dawned on me who this woman was. Tara, the girl Jax went out with through high school and then she ditched town to move to Chicago. "Oh are you two…?" She then asked when she finally let her eyes leave Jax.

"Yeah, she's with me" Jax said after a beat and it was like a punch to the gut. No 'she's my girlfriend' or 'we're together'. Just a 'she's with me'… like he was taking care of a friend.

"I'm going to um… take care of the paperwork" I said before leaving Tara's side and walked up to the window as the receptionist handed me over a clipboard and I scribbled in with a shaking hand my information. I looked over at the two of them talking silently and shook my head. Here I was last night worrying about crow eaters and now I had to worry about his old flame coming in to swoop him up away from me.

We sat silently in my jeep at a red light getting out of the hospital parking lot. I could already feel him pulling away. I was so fucking stupid to think that I could have a man like Jackson Teller. "How's your head feeling?" He asked after I pressed the power button to let my window come down so I could breathe.

"Fine" I mumbled, clicking the stick against the steering wheel to make my blinker signal that I was turning left.

"So that was…"

"I know who that was" I interrupted him and watched him flick the ashes off of his cigarette out of his window. "Sorry… I'm just a little flustered; I thought she moved to Chicago because she needed to get away from this town."

"She did, apparently she got a job offering here and decided it was time to come back home"

"Great timing" I whispered while turning the wheel right to head to Opie's house. "Can you call Op; say we're on our way." He pulled his phone out of his pocket and sent him a text instead.

"Are you okay?" He asked

"I'm great, just tired" I leaned back in my seat a bit more while I drove. This was just another thing I could add to the list of things I had to worry about, and things I couldn't help. I didn't know Tara was a doctor, I didn't know how pretty she was. I glanced at myself in the mirror and sighed. I was the complete opposite from that woman, how could I have been Jax's type?

"Pull the car over" He said after tossing his cigarette out the window.

"Why? We're almost there"

"Just pull the damn car over" He said a bit louder this time and I rolled my eyes while pulling the jeep up against the curb and put it in park.

"What Jax?" I asked him while turning to face him.

"We're together Abs, so you need to stop acting jealous."

"Excuse me? You practically told her that we weren't back at the hospital"

"How the fuck did I do that? I told her that you were with me" He said and I shook my head

"The way you said it, that woman is just going to hook you once I leave. I know it" I turned away from him and leaned my head back against the headrest and took in a deep breath.

"That's what you're worried about? Babe…" He let out a sigh and grabbed my hand and I looked at him "She's married, been married for a few years." That settled me a little bit, but it was Jax we were talking about here… he was gorgeous and any woman would commit adultery for him I'm sure.

"Really?" I asked and he nodded before kissing my knuckles gently.

"Besides my feelings for her died when she left town, I'm with you now and you're all I need."

"You know Jax… that was really sweet"

"I know" He said with a cocky smirk and I pulled my hand from his with a small laugh. My mood was lifted and my head was much clearer as I pulled away from the curb.

"So does that make me your old lady or something?" I asked once we got to Opie's driveway and I beeped the horn.

"It just might, you have to move here first to get the official title but it's all the same to me" I smiled and looked down at my lap "Should probably warn you though, tattoos are in order once that becomes official."

"Tattoos?" I asked him

"We'll talk about it after you move here"

"You're so certain I'll be moving here" I said with a smile while I brought my hand over to his on his thigh.

"Only a matter of time darlin', but don't make me wait too long"

"Never" I vowed and he leaned over and pressed his lips to mine gently before the back door opened up and he pulled back.

* * *

**_Only 1 more day of Abigail being in Charming. Tara being in Charming isn't going to shake up most things, after-all she is happily married in this story. There was no way I could leave her out because she plays such a huge role in the television show. How are things going to end up once Abigail leaves Charming and goes back to cleaning up the mess in Los Angeles? Over the next few chapters things will start getting hectic again, but first Abigail needs to have 1 last good day without drama before that happens. _**


	18. Chapter 18

**Chapter 18. Thank you all for enjoying this story! Remember to drop me a review, favorite or a follow! xo**

* * *

"I can't believe we're already packing to go home" Misha grumbled after tossing herself onto my bed.

"Well you're packing these things then packing up your things at the apartment to move back here, that's a little different" I said while I folded a white tank top and put it onto my things in my suitcase.

"I'm excited; I haven't felt this way in a really long time about something." I looked over at her and smiled while she looked up at the ceiling.

"I'm happy that you're excited and finally found someone worth sticking with, Opie's a great guy"

"He sure is" She whispered dreamily and I shook my head before folding a pair of jeans that would just have to be washed when I got back home. "Have you given anymore thought into moving with me?"

"Yeah…"

"So, what's the verdict?" She asked as she sat up

"The lease is up in just under a month, I'm thinking of moving around that time. That way we won't get screwed out of paying a shit ton of money and I'll have most of my life back in order hopefully"

"Are you going to get your own place or stay with Jax?"

"My own place, even though he sort of called me his old lady today"

"He did?!" She asked with excitement and I nodded.

"I mean I brought it up in a joking manner but he said it won't become really official until I move here, I get that, then he said something about a tattoo…"

"Oh right… its sort of a mark so that other charters know who you belong to"

"Sounds weird" I muttered

"I was going to get one for Opie before I realized I wanted more in life, it's just a crow tattoo… says forever on it. Gemma has one on her chest, you've seen that right?"

"Yeah I saw that but didn't think anything of it… so you have to get one now obviously, where are you going to get it?" I asked. I had only one tattoo and it was on my ankle for my father, it was a simple butterfly and a set of lips next to it to represent a song "Butterfly kisses". He used to sing it to me when I was a small girl all of the time, and it was the first thing I did for myself when I moved out to Los Angeles.

"Lower back"

"Tramp stamp" I said quickly and she rolled her eyes

"Yeah well all guys look at a woman's ass so I thought it would be the perfect way to show off who I'm with. Where would you end up getting yours?" I shrugged and tossed another piece of clothing into the suitcase

"No clue" I said and walked over to the bed and sat down against the headboard "I met Tara today."

"Tara? As in Tara Knowles?"

"The one and only"

"How? I thought she moved years ago"

"She did, but she's back as one of the doctors over at the hospital. She's married."

"Hmm" Misha said while turning to look over at me "How'd Jax take it?"

"He was surprised and it was super awkward until he told me in the car before you two came out that he was with me and I had no reason to be jealous basically"

"You shouldn't be jealous, Tara and Jax are old news and she's married now? Well then you have nothing to worry about"

"Would I have had something to worry about if she wasn't married?" I asked her

"That's not what I meant… It's just I was around when Jax and her went out before and they were pretty inseparable"

"Thanks Mish, very helpful for me not to feel jealous"

"Sorry… but I'm serious, they're over. Besides you're way hotter than Tara ever was or will ever be so you have nothing to worry about. Plus if Jax mentioned that you were his old lady then you really have nothing to worry about."

* * *

I rolled over onto my back again and slipped the sunglasses down over my eyes to shield the bright sun before looking over at Misha who was lying on her stomach trying to tan her paler skin. Ian and one of his friends, Mark were beside her talking and drinking beers, both of their bodies were still soaked from being in the lake water just a few minutes prior. Mark looked over at me and gave me a small smile before answering Ian.

We had been at the lake for about 2 hours now, when we first arrived and we shredded our shorts and tanks to show off our bikinis, both men decided it was time to be funny. Mark had grabbed me and tossed me over his broad shoulder and Ian did the same with his sister, and then proceeded to run into the lake and toss us in. They were both in their late 20's, but they acted like teenage boys, especially when Misha had to tell both of them to so ogling me.

As I rested my head back down on the towel under me, my phone started to ring in my purse by my hip. I easily grabbed it and slid the pad of my finger over the screen and pressed the device up to my ear. "Hello?"

When no answer came from the other side of the phone, I asked again. After the third time I hung up and looked at the number but it was a private caller so I couldn't even do that. I was about to toss it back into my bag before it started to ring again and I was quick to answer it this time, asking hello twice before the other person hung up. I looked down to see if there was a number and I felt the chill creep up my spine as I read over the area code.

601.

601 was Picayune. That was back home. Why would anyone try to be contacting me from back home? Especially after almost four years? When the phone started to ring a third time, I shut it off and shoved it deep into my bag before lying back down and closing my eyes. The only person with that area code that could be trying to get in contact with me was Sherri, but I hadn't spoken with her since leaving, but she did mentioned she'd call if it was an emergency. But she didn't answer me, and that person kept calling.

"Who was that?" I heard Misha ask once she rolled onto her back.

"Wrong number" I mumbled while I fixed the spandex black thin strap on my hip.

* * *

It was midnight and I was still waiting for Jax to come walking in through the closed bedroom door… but he wasn't. He had called my phone a few times while it was shut off, so he had to call Misha to get in touch with me to tell me he wouldn't be back until the early morning hours due to a hiccup. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. At least we shared the night before together. Opie was back though; he had whisked Misha away about an hour and a half ago. Jax had said only the President and the Vice President were needed to stay wherever he was. At least she'd get her last night with her guy.

I closed the lid of my laptop and slid it off to the side before looking down at my phone. Eventually I had to turn it back on, and with doing so I found out that unknown caller called me nearly 30 times before getting the idea that I wasn't going to answer anymore. I should have been worried who it was but no one had this new number but Sherri, there was no way anyone from back there got their hands on it.

So without Misha here to keep me entertained, I decided to search apartments or houses that were being rented out in Charming. It was inevitable. I was going to move here and maybe get my one wish of having a family. I had found two apartments, just over by the lake actually and then a small house that was looking for a person or family to rent it out. I was sure by the time I decided to move all of my shit here all three of those places would have been taken, so I'd just look again in a month.

My last day in Charming was relaxing. After packing everything, we stayed at the lake for 3 hours and I even got rid of tan lines I had been supporting for the last few weeks so I was happy with that progress. Misha still complained that she would tan and then it would fade in a matter of days, then I had reminded her she had too much Irish blood and that tanning wouldn't make a difference. I was Polish, Italian, and a bit Irish so tanning wasn't a problem for me and I hardly ever got burnt by sitting out in the sun for too long, which was another thing Mish complained about.

After the lake we went to a bar for a few drinks and food, then after we headed home. Now I was alone in the house sadly. Sarge decided to take Donna out because it was Friday night and I was almost positive they wouldn't be back for another hour or so. It was weird being alone in such a big house, a curious part of me wanted to explore it all but then again I was way too lazy and this bed was much too comfortable.

Around 12:30 I started to get restless so I got up from the bed in search for some paper. I turned the light on in the kitchen and found a pad of white lined paper and a pen and went back up to my room, leaving the door open. I knew I wasn't going to have enough time to talk to Jax tomorrow morning before heading back so this was going to have to do for now.

_"Dear Jackson, _

_I just wanted to thank you for giving me the best vacation a woman could possibly have. Even though there have been a few hiccups, you still managed to keep me grounded unless I was falling on my head but other than that… it's been wonderful. You've in some ways given me a new outlook on life. For one there's my long-lost uncle who is back in my life and I'm hoping it'll stay that way. Then there's the club, even if most of them are perverts I still sort of think of them as family now. Finally there is you. _

_How did you manage to turn my life around in one week? Hell it didn't take a week for me to start falling for you, it took one single moment. After I made you dance with me and you still wanted to dance to the next song… you got me a little hooked babe. You were so against dancing in the first place and once we started, you actually enjoyed yourself. By the way you still haven't told me who taught you how to spin a woman, though I'm sure Misha told you to do it. _

_So anyways, Thursday night after our… extra-extra activities and you fell asleep, I stayed up a little longer thinking about a few things. I thought about my feeling for you and how scary they are considering I shouldn't be feeling this way about a man after so little time, and then it got me thinking about time and how much I always think about it. So I say fuck time and just be happy with the present. I know throughout the week I had mentioned that I was leaving Saturday at least a couple dozen times and you told me to shut up once or twice. I get why you said that, because now that it's here I don't want to go. _

_I know you mentioned something about letters or something, a way to keep in contact while you're on runs and I've been thinking why not be pen-pals? I'm moving to Charming within the month but until then if we can't talk on the phone, we can send each other letters. If you think it's a dumb idea I'll understand but here's my address anyways. 1439 Sherman Rd. Los Angeles, California 90001. I'll send you the first letter. _

_We'll talk about living arrangements later. I've already looked into a few places online and I'm sure you'll say something along the lines of me staying there in your house with you but Jax; you have to be actually living there for it to be considered a home. You need to buy food, restock the shelves and such every once in a while and then maybe we'll talk about me moving in there with you, Old man. _

_But anyways, again; thank you for being my hero this week and saving me from a week-long vacation of boring. You're one of a kind Jackson Teller. Please stay safe on the road because I need to see you in a month in one piece. _

_xo, Abigail K." _

After I folded the paper and put it on the nightstand, I set the alarm on my phone for 7 and crawled deep within the sheets and nearly instantly fell asleep.

It wasn't a long sleep though, around 3 I woke up in a cold sweat and decided maybe another shower would put me more at peace. It did the trick because once 7am rolled around and my alarm sounded I felt rested. I still had an hour before Misha was going to get dropped off, so I took my time cleaning up the bedroom and making sure I wasn't leaving anything behind.

When I heard the motorcycle rumbling outside, I looked over at the clock and raised my eyebrow. She was early, guess she wanted to get this over with. I zipped my blue denim shorts, then pulled the t shirt over my head, and finally pushed my feet into my black flats. I looked around the cleaned room and noticed the folded paper on the nightstand still; I quickly pushed it into my back pocket and reminded myself to give it to Opie to hand to Jax if I didn't see him before we left.

The suitcase in my hand felt like it gained weight as I lugged it down the stairs and put it down in the hallway before sliding the sunglasses onto my eyes to shield them from getting burnt to crisps in the morning light. Pulling the handle of my suitcase, I opened the door and watched as Misha pulled away from Opie's embrace and now they were making out. Rolling my eyes, I opened up the jeep with the small black remote and popped the trunk open.

"Here let me get that Darlin'" I heard his voice coming up the driveway and I turned around to see him getting out of a truck and shoving the keys into his front pocket.

"What are you…? Where's your bike?" I asked him with a flustered mouth. Once he was close enough the butterflies hit my stomach and I took in a deep breath.

"Blew a tire, what? You didn't think you'd get out of here without at least a goodbye Abs, right?" He lifted the heavy suitcase easily and shoved it into the trunk.

"No… I just didn't think you've be back this early but I'm glad you are" He shut the door of the trunk and wrapped me up in his arms until I was molded against his body. My hands stayed on his chest while his fingers pushed into my back pockets "Grab the paper" I whispered and he did "That's for you to read later after I go alright?"

"What is this some sappy romantic movie?" He asked as he started to unravel the paper "I'll read it now."

"No" I grabbed the paper and folded it back up "Later, please?" I pushed the paper into his front pocket which made him sigh.

"Fine… what's it say though?"

"Just how I feel and my thoughts about all of this, it's nothing bad Jax"

"You're coming back right?" He asked then and I leaned up to kiss him

"Of course I am, I'd be the dumbest woman alive if I didn't, especially with you waiting for me… you will wait right? I'll try not to be too long"

"Fuck Abby, yeah I'm going to wait. Will it suck every day without you here? Yeah but I'll deal with it, and it's not like you're half way around the world, you're a plane ride or drive away"

"Exactly" I whispered while I traced my fingers over his chest lightly "I'm going to miss you so much."

His lips captured mine in a heated kiss that had me thinking we had enough time for me to pull him up the stairs to the bedroom, but Misha cleared her throat and I pulled away to look over at her. "I'll be down in 15 and then we can get out of here."

"Take your time" Jax muttered and I hit his stomach gently.

"Sounds good" I told her with a small smile and then when she turned to go to the front door, he pulled me into his hard body again in a searing kiss. His hand crept lower on my side until it was gripping my ass and his other hand moved up to hold the side of my neck, angling my head so his lips could touch down on the sensitive skin on my pulse point. "God, we have to stop" I mumbled but he didn't stop. I was going to be hot and bothered on the 5 hour drive home, at least I wouldn't be the one driving.

"Fuck I should have gotten here earlier" He said as his lips pressed against mine softly.

"We'll have all the time in the world once I'm here to stay"

"We won't be leaving my house for days so be prepared, can't have you quitting on me after the third hour again" I laughed at this.

"Oh, so I was the one who quit? Baby I could have gone a few more times around, it's you who said you didn't have any more gas in the tank, so maybe it's you who should be prepared" I planted a couple of kisses along his scruffy jaw and up over his cheek while his hand on my ass gave it another squeeze before it slid up onto my lower back.

"Whatever you say" He whispered while I nipped his earlobe with my teeth and I heard him take a small intake of breath. "Shit, is she almost done in there because if she's another minute I might just steal you." My heart warmed at his words and I gave him another quick kiss.

Another motorcycle pulled in beside Jax's truck and before I could turn around I saw the smile on Jax's face. It was Kozik. I was surprised he remembered and was up this early to see me off. "Hey kid, didn't think I'd make it did ya?" He asked while getting off of his bike and hanging his helmet on the handlebar.

"Just surprised you're up this early" I said while walking over to him.

"Yeah well, you're guy mentioned something last night about it, almost slipped my mind" I smiled "I'm headed back up to Tacoma this afternoon."

"Anything about switching?" I asked

"Not yet, maybe in a month we'll see how things go…" He gave me a small smile while scratching the back of his head, his eyes on Misha now as she was being helped by Jax with her suitcase.

"You better call me once in a while to let me know you're safe alright?"

"Yeah, yeah" He mumbled and I rolled my eyes while smiling wide "You gonna give me a hug now or what?"

"Was thinking about it"

"Thinking about it, huh? I remember when you were a kid and you wouldn't let me go, clinging to me like a damn monkey; you're mother fucking hated that" He recalled and I smiled.

"I still have that photo, from the last time I saw you"

"Which one?" He asked "Matt used to take photos left and right…" He pulled his wallet out from his back pocket and flipped the worn black leather open "Was it this one? It's the only damn photo I have." He handed me the small worn photograph and I shook my head. I hadn't seen this photo before. I had to be about 3 here, I was sitting on his shoulders and my small hands were fisted into his blonde hair.

"I've never seen this before…" I whispered while I looked at the worn edges before handing it back to him, he looked at it and smiled before looking up at me.

"It was a long time ago kid, better days"

"Yeah" I sighed while he put the photo back into his wallet and pushed it into his pocket again. I took a couple of steps and hooked an arm around his shoulders and hugged him while his hands hesitantly pressed against my back to hug me back.

"Shoot me a text when you pull into L.A alright? Don't need to hear you got into some wreck on the high way."

"I will" I said after kissing his cheek and pulling back. He pressed a hand against the side of my face gently and smiled.

"I still can't believe you're actually here Abs, its fucking mind blowing to me"

"I'll miss you too Uncle Koz" He smirked and playfully pushed at my shoulder "Stay safe out there."

"I'll try, see you in a month"

"See you then" I said as I looked him over one last time before turning around to head back to the jeep. Misha was talking to Jax and their conversation stopped once I was in listening distance.

"Keys" Misha said while holding her hand out "I'll give you two a minute" I handed her the keys from my pocket and nodded while she walked away.

"Everything okay there?" Jax asked and I nodded with a smile.

"Yeah, it's actually starting to feel like he's my uncle again so I'm guessing that's a good thing"

"Sounds like it, I'll be sure to keep an eye out for him" He said while holding onto me tight again.

"Thank you, it means a lot" He nodded against the side of my head. My fingers brushed through the back of his blonde hair while I pulled away from him a bit to look his face over "You stay safe too okay?"

"I will only if you promise me to stay safe"

"Of course I will, and I'll call you as soon as I find out about the Max thing"

"Thanks babe" I nodded and kissed him quickly but his hand came up to the back of my head to hold me there with our lips connected for a few more seconds. He walked me to the passenger's side door and opened it up for me and gave me another kiss before I sat down in the cooled seat.

"Drive safe, I'll see you soon Michelle"

"Yes you will, and don't worry I'll be sure to keep you updated" She said to him as he leaned in the doorway and kissed me a few more times quickly.

"One month or I'm driving to L.A. and dragging you here"

"One month" I confirmed with a smile and then he reluctantly shut the door**_._**


	19. Chapter 19

**Thank you all for the amazing reviews! I'm so happy you enjoy reading this story just as much as I enjoy writing it. Keep it up! xo**

* * *

There was a different kind of smell to Los Angeles, I thought as Misha drove down one of the busiest streets to get onto ours. In Charming it was more open, more of a warming feeling but now L.A. was giving me a cold shoulder type of feeling. It happened right after she pulled the car off of the high way, that's when I started to notice things I didn't like about this city. People came here every day from different states, and countries in search of their dream to be fulfilled. I did the same thing and was one of the lucky ones to get a dream job, a dream friend, and a dream apartment. It was the life I had always wanted after seeing music videos on MTV TRL. But now Los Angeles was leaving a bad taste in my mouth.

After unlocking the door, I picked up the mail that had piled up into a mess on the hardwood floor and dumped it onto the coffee table. "God windows need to be opened now" Misha complained while she came into the apartment behind me. It was hot at the devils pit "Guess Tony didn't stop by to gather the mail or air the house out like I asked him too."

"Guess not" I mumbled while unlocking a window by the couch and pushed it up to let the air flow through the living room. After opening a few more windows, I walked down the hallway and kicked my door open and tossed the suitcase onto my queen sized bed and walked over to the window by the television and pushed that up as well. I'd unpack and clean my clothes later tonight, first I had to go through the mail and sort the junk from the bills.

_"Home safe, I miss you already" _I texted Jax and then sent a quick text to Uncle Kozik as well to let him know I was home.

"Junk, junk, oh look more junk" I whispered while tossing the papers of junk into the bin by my legs. From the thirty pieces of mail we received throughout the week there were only five bills, and fifteen magazines; all for Misha.

_"I miss u 2 babe"_ came the text from Jax and I leaned back on the cushions of the plush couch and flipped to a photo of him and I that Misha took of us from Thursday at the small cook-out at T-M. I was standing in front of him, his arms hung loosely around my neck and we were both smiling like fools. It was the happiest I had looked in a photograph in years, genuinely happy. Sighing deeply, I pushed my phone into my back pocket as I stood up.

"You ready to get this over with?" Misha asked as she came out from the hallway, her hands wrapping her dark curls up into a messy bun and I only nodded while grabbing the keys from the table.

It was easy to get over to the police station considering it was only five blocks but the wait inside of the station was much longer. Apparently the detective on the case was expecting us later because he was on lunch when we arrived. So as we waited Misha and I spoke quietly about what we were probably walking into. It was going to be a lot of hard hitting questions, questions I was probably more likely to answer than Misha was because I knew Max pretty well. Unlike Mish, I had been questioned a couple of times at a police station; but it was never the topic of murder.

"Ms. Kozik… Ms. McKinnon, sorry to keep you ladies waiting" We heard to the left of us and we smiled up at the two men dressed in black suits. "I'm Detective Morrow, this is Detective Howard if you ladies would come with us, we'll get this done so you two can be on your way" He said and I narrowed my eyes at Detective Morrow a bit as I stood, his thick southern accent was very much showing but that wasn't the reason I was looking at him a little more than necessary, he looked familiar.

Once we were down one of the hallways, Detective Howard split the both of us up and I was lucky enough to get stuck with Morrow. "Right in here, would you like a bottle of water or some coffee?" He asked me as I placed my purse down on the table in front of me before sitting in the cool steel chair.

"No I'm all set… thank you" He nodded before shutting the door and he put his cup of Starbucks down and he loosened his tie just a small amount but it was enough for me to notice.

"Let's dive in here, so how long did you know Maxwell Monroe?" He asked while he sat opposite of me, and then took a sip of his coffee before opening a folder in front of him and he clicked a pen open that had been in his pocket.

"We met roughly 4 years ago; I was admiring his studio and well Misha… I mean Michelle saw me outside and asked if I wanted to sign up for some dance classes but I was more interested in working for the studio, so I met with Max and the rest if history from there" I explained casually while putting my hands down on my lap, maybe I should have asked for a coffee.

"You were an assistant to him when you first started working there correct?" He asked and I nodded

"Yeah, I would fetch coffee for him, do his laundry, really whatever he needed me to do I would do it because it was a job"

"When did you become his right hand man so to speak? Traveling on business trips to…" He ruffled through some papers then and looked them over briefly "New York numerous times, Massachusetts, and Nevada. When did that all start?"

"It was after hours and usually I closed the place every night, I'd take my time doing that and stay a couple of hours after to dance. I moved here from Mississippi with a dream to be a dancer and Max had forgotten something in his office one night and he watched me dance, the next morning I was promoted to teaching dance every so often with Michelle and on the side I would help Max with things… such as business trips and the paperwork behind his work. He was looking to expand his franchise into those states you listed"

"Mississippi?" He asked

"Yeah, southern Mississippi"

"Whereabouts south?"

"Picayune"

"Really? I have a cousin from there, I grew up a few towns over by the river" I smiled gently and nodded, that must have been where I had seen him before, years and years ago through the town.

"Great, L.A.'s definitely different than back home"

"You can say that again" He chuckled gently and leaned back in his seat and took another long drink from his coffee cup. "So here's a blunt question, do you know of anyone that would want Mr. Monroe dead?"

"No, when I heard that he went missing I automatically thought that he was off with his boyfriend, or his side boyfriend"

"Talked to both, was unfortunate they bumped into each other on their way out of the station"

"Ouch" I mumbled while shaking my head "Glad I wasn't here for that… but like I said I have no idea who would have wanted Max dead. He was a really sweet guy"

"Hmm" He hummed "If you were his right hand man Abigail, is it alright if I call you Abigail?" I nodded "If you were his right hand man Abigail, and you knew of his side boyfriend, you'd also know about his drug use."

"I did know of his drug use yes, also tried to steer him away from it for a while and I thought it was working but apparently I was wrong. Two weeks ago I caught him in the office snorting some cocaine, it was after hours so I yelled at him about doing that at work but he left mad. We made up the next morning when he brought me coffee at my apartment… do you think one of his drug dealers could have done this?"

"That's where the lead is right now, he was found with a few bags on him, as well as a nine millimeter"

"A gun? He had a gun on him?" Detective Morrow nodded and I sighed "He always told me he hated guns, I suggested arming the studio last month because we had a break in; he very against the idea." He jotted that down in his notes before looking up at me.

"Do you know of any names that he might have mentioned?"

"Never, he always kept that shit to himself… wait there was one but he only used like a nickname, I think it was CJ" He scribbled that down on his paper and then put his pen behind his ear. I looked him over again while he read over something on a paper to himself. He had very blonde buzzed off hair; he looked like he could have walked off of a movie set. He was gorgeous to say the least. He was young too, maybe late twenties, he was definitely a rookie at this job or at least on it for just a couple of years.

"So why the sudden change, other than dancing being your dream, why'd you end up leaving Mississippi?" That really wasn't a question I was expecting so it took me a few moments to gather my thoughts.

"There wasn't anything in Mississippi worth staying for, my father had died and I decided that it was time I moved on and started a life I would be proud to call mine. Why'd you leave Mississippi Detective?"

"My names Dom, Dominic, and I left for this job clearly" He chuckled sarcastically "But in all seriousness, the Carlin Country Police force just wasn't cutting it"

"Carlin?" I asked with a small laugh "Hell that's smaller than Picayune, no wonder why you left. I'm sure the biggest call you got was a noise complaint down by that watering hole."

"You've been to Carlin?" He asked a little surprised

"Of course, I spent most of my senior year in high school there"

"That where I probably notice you from then, we're about the same age"

"Here I was thinking you looked familiar, small world huh?" I asked and he nodded with a smile on his thin lips.

"I'm going to give you my card and get you out of here, I'm sure your friend is done as well." He pulled a business card from his jacket pocket and wrote something down on it before sliding it over to me. "I put my cell number on there too, just in case you think of anything else or if you want to catch up about Mississippi" I rolled my eyes a little before taking the card and putting it into my bag.

"Thanks Dominic, I'll be sure to do that" I stood up from my seat and pulled the strap of my purse up on my shoulder before he escorted me out of the small room and back into the waiting area.

"I'm serious about catching up, I'm sure we have a lot more in common than just being from shitty towns in Miss" He commented as I watched Misha stand up from her chair in the waiting area, a phone to her ear.

"I'm sure we do, I'll give you a call but there is a lot of stuff going on in my life right now…"

"Understood, I apologize if I'm crossing some sort of line"

"No, don't worry about it" I gave his worried face a reassuring smile and he brightened up a bit "I'll give you a call if I think of anything else."

Misha and I left after that and as I turned the car on, she wrapped up her phone call with Opie.

"So what was that about?" She asked me

"What?"

"Detective Morrow asking you out to catch up? You two know each other?"

"We grew up a few towns over from one another, personally no I don't know him but we swam and hung out at the same watering hole during high school"

"Of course all the good looking men come out when you're not single" She mumbled and I rolled my eyes with a nod.

"It's a good thing Jax stole my head before anyone else could, right?" I asked her while she rolled down her window.

"Stole your heart? Damn I didn't think you were that in deep girl" I nodded

"He just gets me."

We drove for twenty minutes before I pulled the car into my spot in the parking lot behind the dance studio. It was just after 4 and around this time classes would have been switching. The hip hop class for teenagers would be getting out and the older dancers for swing would have been entering. Taking in a deep breath, we headed out of the car and I pushed my key into the back door and unlocked it, letting her go in first to turn on the lights.

It was an eerie feeling to say the least. It was quiet except for our shoes touching down on the hard wooden floor "You should probably grab your things in my office now instead of having to come back here before you move" I mentioned to Misha who just nodded while she walked away from me.

I walked into my small office to see a few boxes down on the ground by the desk, various items were in them. I'd have to thank Jean for cleaning up the place because from the look of the shattered glass photo frames in one of the boxes, she had a lot more to clean up than she had been letting on. Opening up one of the desk drawers with my keys, I pulled out the files and grabbed one of the boxes and tossed them into it before working on the other drawers of paperwork.

"Damn, I really liked this photo too" Misha said and it startled me enough to hit my head against the desk and I growled while rubbing the spot, hoping I didn't rip open any healing that was going on. "Sorry!"

"It's okay…" I looked up and saw the photo she was holding; it was of us on Venice beach two years ago "Yeah I liked it too. We'll just have to get a new frame for all of them."

"Jesus" She muttered while looking into the box of broken things "I wonder how bad it looked before Jean cleaned everything up"

"I'm sure it was worse this time around, here" I tossed her a thin work out jacket of hers and she caught it easily. "That box there is full of your things too" She grabbed the box and put it down on the chair before looking through it.

"Are you going to get that?" She asked after a few minutes of silence while I tried to get things in order within a box of papers.

"Huh?" I asked and she pointed to my purse on the table, now I could hear the buzzing "Oh shit" I muttered while I grabbed the bag and went through it quickly and found my phone and put it up to my ear. "Hello?" I asked

"See I even miss your voice" Came the thick manly voice on the other end and I couldn't help but smile, forgetting the work that had to be done for a few moments.

"That was awfully sweet"

"Sweets my middle name baby" He said and I laughed while pushing myself to stand and I walked out of the office to be alone "Anyways, what are you wearing?"

"Phone sex already? It hasn't even been a day yet Jax"

"Still doesn't answer my question…"

"I'm still wearing what you saw me in this morning, didn't really have time to change; we went straight over to the station when we got here"

"How did that go?" He asked as I opened up a door and walked into the studio area, seeing the new plate of glass on the window, what a waste that was.

"Detective asked a few questions and then I was out of there, now we're at the studio packing up a few things" I was quick to change the subject because eventually I'd have to tell him everything that happened in the room, but I wasn't really in the mood this second.

"Any new leads?"

"From what I heard they think it was a drug dealer of his, that's it"

"That's it? Sounds to me this case will get filed away sooner rather than later" He commented and I looked at myself in the long stretched out mirror along the wall. "So this Detective, he give you any problems?" My eyes narrowed at myself in the mirror wishing he was there instead of a reflection of me.

"No… we actually sort of knew each other"

"Ex-boyfriend I need to worry about darlin'?"

"No, nothing like that… he grew up a few towns over from where I was down in Mississippi, went to the same places during high school and such"

"Oh" I heard him mumble "Did you tell him about the fucked up text messages you've been getting all week?"

"No because those stopped"

"You still should have showed them to him Abby, could all be related somehow"

"So you think Max's killer is coming after me next?" I asked him

"No, fuck no. Shit darlin', when are you moving up here? I'd rather you up here now" He rushed his words while the concern seeped through over the phone.

"Twenty-six days Jax, don't worry I'll be okay. I still have Mish for fourteen of those days"

"Then after that?"

"Then after that I'll be too preoccupied with moving to care that a murderer is out there, hopefully they'll have caught him by then"

"I'd rather you be here with me darlin', I shouldn't have let you go back."

"Jax" I sighed while raking my fingers back through my hair "I'd rather be there too, especially after this morning… you're goodbye had me a little uneasy sitting in that car for five hours."

"Did it?" He asked "I bet it made you think of my fingers inside of you huh? How you tense up just before you relax, how you orga-"

"Shhh" I said into the phone quickly to shut him up.

"Are you really shutting down the idea of phone sex?"

"I told you I don't like it"

"Have you ever done it?" He asked and I sighed deeply "Exactly, so don't knock it until you try it. I'm not busy later so clear your schedule and call me back at nine."

"Nine?"

"You're gonna need a few hours to recover for what I have in store"

"Oh god" I whispered

"That's right Darlin', talk to you then"

"Yeah…" I whispered "Until then." He hung up first and I pulled the phone away from my ear. How did I agree to this? Even when we were face to face with each other he would say a few filthy words and I would be a puddle for him. Now I'd have to imagine him there in my bed with me… oh god.

"Was that Jax?" Misha asked as I walked back into the office and I nodded while tossing my phone back into my bag "Why are you so flushed?"

"I'm not" I said while patted my hot face gently and she started to laugh.

"Sure, you're so not going to last a month without seeing him"

"Probably not, that's why I plan on driving you back up to Charming in two weeks to help you move" Misha was excited about this, even though it was a way for me to see him one last time before I ended up moving there myself.

"Are you going to tell him?"

"No way! I thought about it in the car ride home and I can't wait to see the look on his face when I pull up to T-M unannounced"

"That's sweet" She smiled "How long are you planning on staying?"

"Probably a weekend, you said you wanted to be out of L.A. by the 12th right? Well that's a Thursday so I'll stay a long weekend, maybe look into a few places while I'm there."

"You know Jax is just going to make you stay with him right? We went over this already"

"We just started going out, there's no way I'm going to be living with him… at least not yet"

"We'll see. That boy always gets his way sooner or later" Misha said while she picked up her box and headed towards the door.

"Well I guess it's a good thing I'm stubborn then isn't it?" I asked as I pulled my purse up onto my shoulder and grabbed a box of my personal belongings and walked out after her.

* * *

_**Only 14 days until Misha moves to Charming and only 14 days until Abby is back in the arms of one impatient Jax Teller. From here on out things are going to start to mesh into Sons of Anarchy season one. You'll see hints here and there of what's to come because I'm obviously not going to be using all of the drama from the show that happened during that season. I hope you all enjoyed this installment, be sure to favorite, review and follow!  
**_


	20. Chapter 20

**I passed 100 reviews! That's crazy! Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU everyone who has reviewed and made me such a happy woman today! I'm so overjoyed that people like this story enough to leave reviews after every update, it means so much.**

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The first night back in my bed was anything but comfortable. I was restless and sleep wasn't easy without the warmth of Jax behind me. I half expected to see Jax laying there next to me on Sunday morning but the cold reality of life was that he was five hours away. Sunday wasn't eventful; it was filled with washing clothes and calling Max's business partners over in New York. I don't know how all of this landed on my shoulders; I was a nobody three years ago.

"Do you have my purple dress I let you borrow for that fundraiser last month? I want to pack it away" Misha asked while she walked into my room, shorts and a light crewneck on her body, her hair was a messy bun of curls and she wore no makeup. She only let me see her like this, and probably Opie but he was a totally different story.

"Yeah I think it's still hanging up in the closet…" I sat up from my spot on the rug and walked over and pulled the closet door open, my fingers grazing over a couple of materials before the short purple flow-like dress came into sight and I handed it to her. "When are you going to need a dress in Charming?"

"You never know who might be getting married soon" I raised an eyebrow; apparently she HAD been eavesdropping on my conversation last night with Jax.

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Oh, nothing thanks again. By the way the buzzer for the dryer went off a few minutes ago" I nodded as I watched her leave my room. I closed my laptop and put it on the bed before leaving my room as well and walked down the hallway to the small dryer/washer combo next to the bathroom.

It was early for marriage talk but somehow Jax had thrown it out there after he mentioned the tattoo thing again. His exact words were "after you move in, you can get the crow tattoo, I'm sure Hap won't mind doing that for you darlin', then we can talk about getting hitched." My response was to stay silent until he thought I had hung up the phone until I finally answered by asking him about marriage. Sure I had been engaged before and that didn't end well, I didn't think marriage was in my future after that but apparently it was a very big thing in the Teller-Morrow family. You got married and you had babies. Thankfully after a few dragging minutes, he changed the subject onto more intimate things.

Marriage. I couldn't even say the word out loud without making me think of Freddy. How fucking happy I was when he proposed and how awful it ended after everything. I quickly banished all thought of him from my head as I folded my clothes and put them in a white basket before walking back to my room. Three cardboard boxes were against my bed this time and I took in a deep breath before unloading a few things I knew I wouldn't be wearing for the next month into them. Misha suggested I started packing now so that I would have something to do other than think about how awful Thursday's funeral was going to be.

Monday was a wash of a day, nothing happened but a coffee run and a short meeting with Jean at the coffee shop to talk about preparations for the funeral; also Max's over-the-top mother was there. I felt bad for her, she had just lost her only son; but I wasn't feeling too awful considering she didn't like me and always gave me an attitude when she came around.

Tuesday and Wednesday weren't anything to be remembered.

Thursday, after dressing in a black simple dress that cut off at my mid-thigh, Misha walked into my room ready to go in just about the same dress but she had on more accessories. I mentally prepared myself for the funeral but once Max's father got up on the stage and gave a speech, I was a bubbling mess. I had met him a couple of times but Max and him weren't exactly on the best of speaking terms, he didn't support his son in anything he did; mostly because he was homophobic but as his father put his hand down on Max's closed coffin and said that he loved his son, I was a goner. A parent should never have to bury their child; it was a shitty situation all around.

Tiffany, Max's mother rented out a hall for an after-funeral-get together. I never understood these things. After my dad died we didn't have one, but after my mom's passing we did. It was just a bunch of people you didn't know getting together to reminisce on memories of the diseased. But by judging the food table, most people came for the free food. "Oh the funeral was so nice, Max would have loved it" I heard from a woman as I passed by the group and I just shook my head. Who would love a damn funeral?

"I thought I'd run into you here" I heard to the side of me as I grabbed a drink from a table and I looked over at Detective Dominic Morrow

"Of course you did" I mumbled and then cursed myself mentally "Sorry it's been a long day."

"Understood, I apologize for trying to make a joke" He said while he grabbed himself a drink as well. He was in a simple black dress shirt and black tie, with black slim fit jeans.

"Ha" I said sarcastically and he smirked while taking a sip of his water.

"I was wondering if you had a minute to talk about the case." He asked

"Yeah anything to drag me away from this hopping party" We walked just outside of the rented out hall and into the lobby. "So what's up?" I asked him while downing my water and tossing the cup into the trash bin by us.

"So we located the house of CJ you mentioned on Saturday, unfortunately it didn't look like he had been living in his home for quite a while"

"That is unfortunate" I whispered

"But we did find a few other names, hopefully that will lead us to someone who knows what happened the night your dance studio was ransacked. We know that it's all connected so still are coming up empty handed on suspects."

"If this is all connected why not just grab the surveillance videos from the light across the street of the studio?" I asked him and I watched him as he ran his fingers over his shaved blonde head and shrugged.

"We have, there was a glitch in the recording system a couple of days prior, and nothing was recorded."

"How convenient" I sighed "So you're pretty much just going through the list of names from this guy CJ's house" I shook my head and crossed my arms over my chest.

"We're doing the best we can Abigail, there's nothing to base his murder upon other than a drug deal gone wrong. We checked into the gun he was carrying and it was registered under his name, so either he had a secret life or you didn't know him as well as you thought you did" I narrowed my eyes at him briefly before shaking my head.

"I was with him 6 days out of the week for nearly two and a half years; I think I knew him better than I knew myself some days. He was against guns, so look into that again"

"I didn't mean to come off as offensive, I apologize"

"Look, like I said before it's been a long day. The last thing I wanted to do today was talk about his case. I do appreciate you filling me in on the developments but don't pass judgment on a friendship you didn't know anything about, especially with one half of that friendship being buried as we speak. Now if you'll excuse me Detective Morrow, I have to give my condolences to Mrs. Monroe again before I leave."

"It's Dominic" He said as I turned to leave him.

Saturday brought a new challenge; the challenge was putting the closed sign on the window of the dance studio for good. Those doors would never be opened again. They'd never open for the mommy and me class we had just started a few months ago, never again for the teenagers who just wanted to dance hip-hop like I did when I was their age. No more older gentlemen hitting on Misha, Jean and I as we taught them how to swing dance. No more laughs or memories, this place would be taken over by another owner soon enough and be turned into a coffee shop or a boutique. I wouldn't be here to find out what it ended up being, but I was sure as hell not going to like it.

"Are you coming or do you want to stay?" Jean asked and I spun around from the large window to look back at her. Eventually I knew her and I would fall out of touch once I moved, there was no denying that.

"I think I'm going to stay for a while and pack the rest of my things in the office, I really don't want to come back here in a month to do it"

"Understandable, give me a call sometime next week after Misha leaves, we'll grab lunch"

"Sounds good, I'll talk to you then" She nodded while walking out and I locked the door after her and made my way back through the hallway and stopped at Max's closed office door. Tiffany Monroe said she had been by and cleaned it out and after I pushed the door open to examine the almost empty room, she was telling the truth. The desk was left, and a mirror hanging on the side wall, as well as a pin board.

I quickly shut the door and walked into mine and started to toss random things into the box left on my desk, trying hard to not think that this might be the last time I was here. After about a half hour in my office and stuffing everything into the one box, I left the room and closed the door behind me. I put the box down on the hardwood floor in front of the stretched mirror and pulled out my phone, intending to put on a song and dance one last time until a text popped up on the screen

_'Do not stray far from your nest, there are always consequences for your actions' _

I took in a deep breath and read the text over again before another popped up.

_'Time will come when you will wish you prayed harder, you will be punished by God when the day comes'_

I started typing on the small keypad to stop with the weird texts until the final one came through.

_'There is no hiding Abigail, the day will come when you wish you would have prayed harder.'_

My fingers stopped over the letter B. It wasn't a wrong number. I shoved the phone deep into my back pocket before grabbing the box and getting the hell out of the dance studio, my mind racing and my heartbeat frantically pumping on the verge of a panic attack. I locked the doors of my jeep and looked out of my window, making sure no one was suspiciously looking this way. Then I pulled my purse open and fished through it to find Detective Morrow's number.

"Detective Dominic Morrow" He said briskly into the phone and I took in a few deep breaths before answering him

"Dominic, its Abigail Kozik"

"Abigail, are you okay?" He asked as genuine concern seeped through his husky southern voice.

"No, I'm not. Are you at the station?"

"I am… why what's going on?"

"I'm coming in, I'll be there in 5 minutes" I said before turning my car on and hanging up the phone as he was asking me another question. I didn't have time for this. I didn't have time for a stalker. I had been getting these texts for a week straight and then there was nothing since I got back to Los Angeles, and then all of a sudden there it was again; but this time the person made him or herself known that they knew who I was. I should have listened to Jax when he said this could have been connected.

"Detective Morrow's office please" I said to the front desk woman before I heard my name to the right of me

"Abigail, what's going on?" He asked as he came jogging down the hallway to get closer to me.

"Private, please" He nodded at my words as he placed a hand on the small of my back and walked me through the hallway and into what had to be his office. It wasn't much of an office, it was fairly empty except for a computer on the desk, a desk phone, a few files scatted and two chairs.

"Sit please; do you need water or anything?"

"No, no. Here" I handed him my phone once I pulled up the texts.

"What am I…?" He asked

"I started getting these strange text two weeks ago, I though some kid was trying to be funny. They stopped for a week until just now… I was at the dance studio cleaning out my office and then…"

"Why didn't you tell me you've been getting threatening texts?" He asked as he looked through the texts once more.

"I didn't think anything of it, until he just…"

"Mentioned that he knew who you were" He finished my sentence and I nodded

"You didn't think this could all be connected to whoever murdered Max?" He asked

"I didn't think…" I whispered

"Do you know of anyone who would want to harm you?"

"No, I think of myself as a nice person; what if this person knows where I live? I mean I might be jumping to conclusions but I don't want to go home and find this person waiting for me there with a fucking axe" He looked up at me from the phone and sighed deeply.

"Don't worry, we'll figure this out before it comes to that" My phone started to ring at that moment and he picked it up, I was still too shaken to even give him an attitude about it. "Ms. Kozik is going to have to call you back…. No, I'm Detective Morrow; no she's completely fine…" I heard him saying and I knew who it was "Excuse me but…"

"It's okay I can take it" I said to him and Dominic look at me before nodding and handing me the phone.

"I'm going to give someone a call, take your time" he said to me as I nodded before sitting down in the chair before putting the phone up to my ear.

"Hey" I whispered

"What the fuck is going on?" he asked

"The texts started again, this time they weren't so cryptic Jax…"

"What do you mean? What did they say?"

"Whoever it is, they know who I am. So I drove right over to the station, Detective Morrow is the one on the case for Max" I tried to explain without giving him the full message of the text. I didn't need him driving down here at nine o'clock at night.

"Pack your stuff and come up here when Misha moves alright? I don't care if you get hit with a fee on your lease, I'll pay it. You're not safe there Abby"

"I know" I whispered, my voice wavering as I tried to keep myself together. This week was hell and now it was all coming crashing down again. "I know, I just need whoever is sending me these texts caught before I can move there Jax."

"No you don't, don't make this an excuse for you to stay there, it should be a fucking excuse to leave sooner babe" he sounded agitated and I couldn't blame him.

"I'll see what I can do, but you aren't paying the penalty for the lease"

"We'll talk about that later, right now you just need to be safe and the only way I know you're safe is if you're here with me. Does Michelle know what's going on yet?"

"No, I haven't talked to anyone yet. If they need to keep my phone to do some search, I'll call you from the phone at the apartment so you know I'm alright. Believe me, I won't be going anywhere for a while until this person is caught"

"Okay, keep me updated okay?"

"I will, you know I will"

"I… stay safe Abs"

"You too" I said just as Dominic walked back into the room and I hung up the phone. "Sorry about that" I told him and he only nodded while sitting behind his desk.

"Who was that?"

"My boyfriend" I said as he held out his hand and I handed him the phone.

"Oh, I didn't know you had one. He's not from around here?"

"No he lives a few hours away, it's fairly new so he worries a lot. I was actually going to be moving up there with Michelle in about a month, but now…"

"Well to be honest, hopefully this guy or woman is caught before then because I hate to be the one to break it to you but you aren't going anywhere out of Los Angeles until then"

"I figured" I whispered as he went through the messages again and then there was a knock on the door and a woman came walking in with a pantsuit on.

"Ms. Kozik, this is Detective Stable, she's going to be taking your phone and she's going to see if she can pin point who this jackass is"

"Great" I mumbled before shaking the woman's hand, she was quiet as she left the room with my phone and I leaned back in the chair and put my hands over my face. "I don't think this week could have gone any worse."

"I'm sorry" He said

"Well it's not your fault that's for sure, unless you're the one sending me those texts then you have nothing to apologize for" I raked my fingers back through my wavy hair "I could use that water now."

"Yeah, sure follow me" He said as he stood up and we walked out of his office and into another room. He filled a plastic hotel-looking cup for me from the bubbler and then handed it to me. I took a few sips while leaning back against the wall. "So there is no one who you could think of that would have a connection between yourself and Max that would want to hurt you in any way?" He asked again.

"None" I whispered

"Not even from your old life back in Mississippi?" He asked while taking a long drink from his own cup.

"I pissed off a lot of people back in Picayune, but why wait four years to threaten me?"

"Maybe you were hard to find? I don't know… I'm just throwing out suggestions to jog your memory but I'm obviously reaching" He whispered the last part and I shook my head.

"You're doing your job, your job is to ask questions and get the bad guy. But really there is no one who I would have pissed off enough to start stalking me. This person might not even be in Los Angeles, how if Detective Stable going to trace it without a number? They were all from a private caller"

"We're the police force, we have our ways."

"Of course you do" I said while finishing the last of my water and we walked back to his office. Detective Stable came in a few moments later with a few papers of the printed off texts.

"I blocked the phone number from ever reaching your phone again so the texts will stop, I found the number and it's in the state of Mississippi, but it's a prepaid cell phone so there is no name attached to its service. I did find the number again in your call log, about thirty phone calls came in to your phone last week, and three of them were received but only for a few seconds…" She explained to me as she pointed to a few things on the papers she laid out on the desk in front of me. "So whoever is doing you've spoken to before."

"I didn't speak to the person; they kept calling over and over again and when I picked up those few times there wasn't anyone on the other end so I shut my phone off. When I turned it back on later that day I had a lot of missed calls but no voicemails from them."

"You didn't think that would be information we needed? Thirty missed telephone calls from Mississippi" Dominic asked

"I gave my phone number to one person back home, how was I supposed to know it was all related?" I asked Dominic as he gave me a strange look that made me raise my eyebrow "This can't be related to Max's murder if this is someone from Mississippi that I pissed off, there's no way."

"Why do you think that?"

"You think that someone from my past came to Los Angeles and killed Max and then is planning on killing me next?"

"I didn't say that" Dominic said "But this person started sending you texts the night that the dance studio was broken into and Max was murdered, put two and two together."

I took in a deep breath and read over the texts on the papers in front of me again. Ted Hughes name came to my mind again; Jax had googled the first few texts and up popped a poem by Ted Hughes. Why would this person pick a crow? Because the Sons of Anarchy. The Crow was a dead giveaway but I had been too blind to understand any of it.

_"Crow nailed them together, nailing heaven and earth together- so man cried, but with God's voice. And God bled, but with man's blood."_

My breathing started to come quicker now as I read over this text again, and then the text from the bible.

_"If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness."_

"I know who is doing this…" I whispered before looking up at Dominic

"Who?"

How could I have been so stupid? He was telling me who it was from how he quoted a poem line, or how he quoted the bible, one of his favorite verses. He was telling me this whole fucking time.

"Fredrick Mason, my ex-fiancé."


	21. Chapter 21

**Thank you for all for the amazing reviews, keep them up!**

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After another two hours of giving all of the information I knew of Fredrick Mason, I was sent home with a police detail following me in a black undercover car. There would be one outside of my apartment until Freddy was caught. I could feel the heavy weight on my chest as I pulled into the driveway next to Misha's red convertible. Shit was hitting the fan and I needed Misha to get the hell out of Los Angeles as soon as possible, she couldn't get hurt too because of my crazy ex. I wouldn't let anyone else get themselves hurt.

It was just after eleven when I walked in through our unlocked door, my fingers locking it right away as Misha looked over at me from the couch. "Took you long enough, did you decide to have a few last dances at the studio before closing it down?" She asked while taking her glass of wine from the coffee table in front of her.

"No…" I whispered while going to the window and locking that as well, we'd have to rely on the air conditioning from now on.

"What's going on…?"

"Freddy was the one sending me those texts while we were in Charming" I blurted out before dropping my purse onto the floor.

"Your ex? How would you know that?"

"Because I got a few more when I was at the studio, he knew who I was, said that he was going to punish me. I went to see Detective Morrow right away, a woman traced the number and I just put two and two together…"

"Holy shit" She whispered "Come sit down" She guided me to the couch and I sat down on the edge of the cushion, my fingers raking back through my hair.

"He killed Max, I know it. This is all related. He probably showed up at the studio and when I wasn't there Max probably tried to send him away. I told Max about him; my god he got himself killed trying to keep me a fucking secret"

"Don't jump to conclusions" She said while rubbing her hand along my tense back "You don't know if that really happened."

"It's Freddy" I whispered while turning my head to look at my best friend "He had threatened me so many times, so many fucking times and I should have seen it before. I should have noticed that it was him sending me the messages. You need to get out of this city; you're not getting hurt too"

"I'm not going anywhere until this asshole is caught, there's no way I'm leaving you alone now."

"You need to, and I'm not alone. We have a police detail on the place until he's found. Dominic said he can't' be too far away"

"Dominic?" She asked

"Detective Morrow"

"Oh. I didn't know you two were on a first name basis" She said while standing up and grabbing the bottle of wine and poured some more into her glass before handing it to me. I took a few sips before leaning back into the couch.

"I can't leave Los Angeles until he's found" I told her

"Seriously?"

"Yeah… meaning I can't drive you to Charming on Saturday and I can't surprise Jax. I might not even be able to move there when this is all said and done"

"It doesn't matter if you can't drive me, I have my own car. And didn't you hear me before, I'm not leaving you alone with this asshole on the loose threatening you" She sat back down on the couch next to me and wrapped her arm around my shoulders "Where's your phone?"

"At the station still, they said they'd drop it off tomorrow sometime. Which reminds me that I have to call Jax before he drives down here himself"

"He knows what's going on?"

"He knows that I got those texts again, but he doesn't know who it was sending them"

"Why don't you do that? I'll make sure all the windows are locked and I'll put the dead bolt on the door before going to bed" She promised as I nodded before taking the last few sips of the wine and put the glass down on the table.

"Thanks"

"Don't worry about it; try not to worry too much okay?" I nodded before standing up and grabbed the handheld phone along the way towards my room. I needed to relax before I called him because I knew for certain that I would freak out in a panic if I told him all of this news with this heaviness in my chest. So I plugged the bathtub and ran the water to fill the tub. After about halfway, I peeled off my clothes and sunk into the warm water and leaned my head back against the white porcelain.

After a few moments, I dried off my hand and grabbed the phone from the floor and dialed his number, it only took one ring before he answered it "I was just about to hop on my bike and ride down there if you didn't call me" He said

"Sorry I worried you, it took longer at the station than I wanted it to" I said while running a luke warm soaked cloth over my face.

I heard him sigh before he started speaking again "So what's going on?"

"Right now I'm in the bath" I said

"That's a good way to distract me darlin', but what's going on with the case and the texts."

"Right" I whispered as I closed my eyes "We figured out who the person was sending me the texts, and he might be the one who killed Max and broke into the studio."

"Who?" He asked and I stayed silent "Abby, who is it?"

"My ex, Freddy" I said, holding back the wavering of my voice because I knew he would have heard how upset I was about this.

"Are you fucking kidding me? Why would that douche bag be doing this?"

"Because he threatened that if I ever left him he'd eventually find me. Well he found me and now he's fucking up my life royally" I bit out

"Are you coming up here with Michelle on Saturday?"

"I can't, I can't leave my apartment until he's caught. There's a police officer on watch of my place until then, so it's not like I'm unprotected"

"If that was supposed to make me feel better about all of this shit, it didn't. You aren't safe there Abs, try and get that Detective to see it my way. You're safer here with the club and me watching over you"

"I fucking know that Jax but there's no way I'm leaving Los Angeles until he's in custody or dead. He's just going to follow me there if I do leave."

"Then I'll handle him myself, he's not touching you. He's not getting anywhere near you, the police aren't going to do shit about it Abs. From what you told me of him he's a psychopath, he basically held you prisoner for years down in Mississippi"

"I know" I whispered while closing my burning eyes tighter "I'll talk to Detective Morrow tomorrow, he's going to stop by with my phone and then I'll give you a call."

"Mish going to be there"

"Most likely, unless she's meeting up with someone. But Morrow said he didn't want us both leaving the house separately, so I'm sure they'll be a detail on her if she decides to leave"

"Alright, enjoy your bath; I have to make a few calls" he said hurriedly. I was expecting him to be on the phone with me for much longer and was a little disappointed he was rushing this until it hit me that he was probably going to do something insane with this new information.

"Don't do anything stupid Jax, the police are handing it okay?"

"Your safety to me is anything but stupid Abby, just taking extra precautions. The club has a few former members down in LA"

"Don't please" I whispered

"Abby, for my own peace of mind I'd rather you protected by the club and not the officers of the LAPD."

I took a few seconds for myself as I ran the wash cloth along my face again "Okay, just a few of them though."

"3 tops… try and relax; this will be over before you know it"

"I hope so Jax, I miss you."

"I miss you too darlin', call me tomorrow"

"I will" He hung up after a moment and I put the phone back down on the floor before sinking my whole body until the water. I kept my eyes closed and held my breath under the water until the burning came to my lungs for air and I rose above the water.

* * *

I continued to pack up my room the next day as I waited for Dominic to come by; it gave me something to do while I didn't sleep either. Nearly seventy-five percent of my room was packed up in boxes before there was a knocking at the door. Misha wasn't going to get it; she left at noon to meet up with Tony to officially break it off with him for good this time. I grabbed the knife I brought to bed with me that was still under my pillow and I walked to the door slowly.

"Abigail, its Detective Morrow!" He called from the other side of the door and I let out the breath I was holding and put the knife down on the counter before unlocking the door and opening it up. He gave me a small smile before walking passed me into the house; he fished my phone out of his front pocket and handed it to me.

"Thanks" I said while tossing it onto the table as well, it was dead; it wasn't useful right now.

"No problem, how are you holding up?" He scanned the packed up living room and raised an eyebrow, his eyes landing on the knife.

"I'm keeping myself busy"

"You have a twenty-four hour detail on your house, you don't need a knife to answer the door Abigail" he said while putting his hand down on my shoulder gently and I tensed up, his hand fell away a few moments later after he squeezed the area in comfort.

"I know that, I just… I'm still freaked out about it all. If this is Freddy he won't stop at anything to get to me, I know how he works"

"I remember him, he was on some team over in Picayune right?"

"Lacrosse, he was the captain his senior year" I recalled

"I was on the Carlin lacrosse team, why would you ever go for a dick like him?" I raised an eyebrow in his direction but then shrugged

"We dated throughout high school like I said in the statement last night, senior year we weren't together because he was trying to focus on his team and school"

"And sleeping around" he threw in and I nodded while shoving my hands into the front pockets of my shorts.

"That too" I muttered with a small shrug again. I looked Detective Dominic Morrow over again briefly before his eyes fell onto mine and I quickly looked away. "So is that all?"

"Yeah I guess, I know the number is blocked from your phone but just in case he somehow gets around that please call me" He said while walking to the door after he looked over the living room once again.

"Of course, I won't hesitate"

"Good to hear, I'll keep you updated as well" I nodded and he opened up the door as I held it open for him to walk through after giving me another small smile and I closed it behind him and locked it.

The reason why I had looked him over again was because I had pulled out an old photo album from high school while packing up my things and some of the photos had been from the water hole. The lake my friends and I hung out at, along with the rest of the senior classes from surrounding schools. As I entered my room again, I grabbed the two photographs on my dresser that I had pulled out of the sleeves of the photo album and looked at them again.

There he was, his arm throw over another lacrosse player from my high school and I was on the opposite side of the photograph with Freddy's arm over my shoulders. There were various people in the photo as well but it was weird that Dominic and I had actually been photographed in the same picture together and I had never noticed it before. I didn't know him then but he definitely hung around with the people in my school.

I looked at the second photograph and it was of me and a friend of mine during high school, Miranda Burton. It looked normal enough until I zoomed my eyes into the background of the photo; Dominic Morrow was standing with a few guys off to the side by the water, Derrick, Jimmy, and Freddy. In more ways than one Dominic had lied to me and it was over the dumbest things too. He didn't say he was friends with Freddy, he said he remembered him but from the way they were standing next to each other they definitely weren't just meeting for the first time then.

I should have probably asked him about the photo but to be honest high school was a while ago and maybe he did forget he knew him during his senior year. After high school a lot of people drop friends to go onto different paths in their lives, I know I sure did. It wasn't a big deal but it still irked me that he sort of lied.

After putting the photos back on the dresser, I grabbed my phone from the table in the living room and plugged it in and left it there to fully charge before calling Jax. There was no update obviously but I did want to know about these three men he was sending over that were former members of the SOA, because I didn't need three meat-head bikers with a lot of tattoo's knocking at my door or even getting arrested by the police officer that was outside of my house.

There were way too many things I worried about during the day and especially now. Lying down on the couch, I turned on the television and flipped through a few channels before finally my heavy eyelids couldn't hold the weight of the world and I fell asleep.

It was dark in the living room when I woke up with the sound of the door being unlocked. I looked over and saw Misha come in and I let out a small breath before yawning. "Oh hey… where you sleeping?"

"Napping yeah, how'd it go with Tony?" I asked while I sat up and she put her keys down on the table and huffed out some air before dropping the box in her hands onto the floor and she then plopped herself onto the couch next to me "That bad huh?"

"He threw a fit, made me pack up my things from his house instead of me just going over there some other day after he packed them for me"

"I had a feeling he wasn't going to be excited about this" I said while throwing my feet up onto the coffee table and grabbing the remote.

"Good riddance though, Op is a thousand and one times better in every aspect than Tony ever was, especially in the sack" I closed my eyes and shook my head with a small laugh forming past my lips.

"Too much information but thanks for sharing"

"What?" She let out a laugh as well before she continued "You didn't think it was his charming good looking that hooked me right? Hell, the guy gave me my first or-"

"OKAY OKAY I get it Mish" I said louder than her voice to drown out the word 'orgasm' before she could say it. She continued to laugh at my disgust of talking about all things sex related. It wasn't disgusting really, it was just super uncomfortable sometimes, especially because she loved details all of the time.

"You have to admit though, the guys we have now are very well endowed"

"I'll agree with that one and that's all you're getting tonight" She smirked and patted her hand on my thigh before standing up.

"Wanna order take out? I'm dying for some Chinese after that long battle with Mr. Head honcho all day and I'm sure you'd like to pig out yourself"

"Please, I'll give them a quick call. The usual?"

"Yeah sounds good, I need to take a quick shower and get his smell off of me" She said this as she brought the collar of her t shirt up to her nose and smelt it.

"You do that, I'm sure it'll take like 20 minutes anyways so enjoy. I need to give Jax a call too…"

"Yeah… about that. Everything okay? When I left around noon today I saw a cop car as well as a truck outside of our house with some mean looking dudes in it"

"Urg, seriously?" I asked her while putting a hand over my face

"What's going on with that?"

"Jax doesn't think the LAPD is capable of handling shit, so he called a few former members of the club from the city to look out for us"

"That was sweet of him" Misha said with a smile and I just shook my head

"Just more people that'll probably end up hurt"

"Oh shut up about that already, we're going to be fine, you most importantly will be fine, you should probably order them some food though, they haven't left that spot" I shook my head once again before standing up and grabbing my phone from the table and pulling the plug out of it.

"Great idea, Jax will have them starve for my safety too probably" She smirked

"Extra protection never hurt, don't give him shit for it okay? Because that's actually really sweet of him to do for you, be thankful that your boyfriend this time around actually cares enough to do this" I let her words sink in and I nodded in her direction

"You're right, this could have been a lot worse if it was the other way around"

"Exactly" She winked at me before turning and heading down the hallway to the shower. I dialed the Chinese food restaurant and ordered a few extra meals on top of our original order and they said it would take about 20 minutes like I thought and then I walked into my room and called Jax.

"Hey babe" He answered

"Thank you, I haven't met them yet but your guys are outside of the apartment looking over us" I said to him before anything else. It was true what Misha had said, if this was any other boyfriend I had they wouldn't have done this for me, they wouldn't have even thought of it.

"Suddenly seeing it my way? Jesus woman where the fuck did this come from?" He asked with a laugh

"I should have appreciated it last night Jax, when you said you were doing it for my safety, I just haven't had someone do something for me without needing something in return; it took me much longer than it should have to realize you were doing this because you cared about me and you didn't have an alternative motive for doing it. So thank you, I really appreciate the extra protection."

"You're welcome darlin', it wasn't that big of a deal; the guys taking shifts out there owed us a favor anyway"

"Glad they cashed in now" I smiled quickly before flopping down on my bed and looked up at the dark ceiling.

"Any update?"

"None which is good and bad I guess. I forgot to talk to Detective Morrow about heading up there and screwing this whole detail shit but I really wasn't in the mood to talk to him or anyone earlier so I'll have to ask him tomorrow" I told him as we got into an easy conversation with how his day went and what he had been up to. Apparently he had been dealing with some shit with some sort of warehouse fire that his club used as storage.

"One second baby" I said into the phone when there was a knock on the door and I grabbed the cash from my dresser and walked through the living room. I unlocked the door and the Asian man stood there on the other side with two brown large bags and I smiled. I handed him the money and he handed me the bags and I quickly locked the door back up "Sorry, had to answer the door."

"Who was at the door?"

"Ordered take out, Misha had a shitty day too so we're having a pig out night"

"Sounds like my kind of party, what kind of food?"

"Chinese"

"Sounds to me I'll have to whip your ass back into shape when you're finally here" I smirked at his playful tone

"We already christened your house in every room Jax" I put the bags down on the counter in the kitchen and started to open them up.

"Didn't christen ever floor darlin', gotta put you to work" I felt my stomach clench in anticipation and want.

"Sort of sounds like a challenge" I said to him as I leaned against the counter, abandoning the bags for right now because this conversation was much more interesting.

"Not that I think you don't have it in you, but with pigging out on Chinese babe… I don't know"

"Challenge accepted… you just totally got your way; damn you for suckering me again Teller" He chuckled on the other line and I turned back around and pulled the containers out of the bags and put Misha's together as well as mine before putting the other three containers to the side for the guys.

"That Jax?" Misha asked as she walked into the kitchen with a towel wrapped in her hair on the top of her head.

"Yeah" I said to her and before she could ask another question I said into the phone "Mish says Hi and to make sure you're looking out for Opie."

"How many times is she gonna ask me to do that, she knows I had his back" I smirked as Misha hip bumped me and I stumbled on my feet a bit.

"All of the time until she's back up there I suppose" I let out a small laugh while she grabbed a fork and started to eat her lo mien. "Baby, I'm going to give you a call later before I head to bed okay?"

"Go pig out, talk to you then" I smiled

"Bye Jackson"

"Bye Darlin'" I hung up and pushed the phone into my pocket before grabbing the containers and plastic forks.

"You two are adorable" Misha said as she sat down on the couch with her food on the coffee table.

"Thanks" I smiled and unlocked the door after pushing my feet into my flip flops at the side of the door. "I'll be right back, going to go introduce myself and give them something to snack on."

"You're going to make a great old lady Abby" I rolled my eyes at her before leaving the apartment and heading down the steps and walkway to go over to the black truck hanging across from the cop car.

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**I know some of these chapters coming out are fillers until all of the real shit starts to happen so I thank you for sticking with this story and leaving the reviews that you are. It's amazing and still a little mind-blowing that people like this story. I love you all xo**


	22. Chapter 22

**Thank you for the amazing reviews! Keep them coming! Maybe you'll like this chapter, I know I sure did ;) xo**

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The week dragged on due to being trapped inside of my apartment for most of the days, other than having a few visitors over and keeping my situation hush-hush, it was nothing to be excited about. Now here I was sitting on the floor in a very empty bedroom with my back pressed against the wall and my eyes on the closed window, I had drawn the curtains back just so the sunlight would beam though. It was Sunday and usually on Sundays I would be at the studio doing paperwork this early in the morning, but now my job was to wait, and wait for however long.

Misha had packed up the last of her things yesterday morning and after a few pushes from myself, she had left and officially moved out of this apartment we shared for three years. It felt empty and it had only been one day. I ran my fingers back through my messy blonde hair and leaned the back of my head against the wall in frustration. I had to do something today or I would lose it. As I was thinking of things to do to keep me preoccupied from staring at the clock all day, my phone rang in the living room, so I stood up to see who was calling at nine in the morning on Gods day.

In fact it hadn't been ringing, it was my new text tone and it was a quick message from Misha to ask how I was doing. I typed away on the touch screen that I was okay but it was lonely without her, before I slipped the phone into my pajama shorts pocket and I walked into the kitchen to get a drink. As I drank the ice cold water, I stood with the fridge door open and couldn't help but sigh. There wasn't much in there for food except for Chinese left overs and pizza take out. Maybe I would be able to go outside today.

_'Is there any possible way I could run out to the store today, I need to buy food'_

I texted Dominic and waited for a reply back but instead a knock came at the door. I raised an eyebrow and quickly ran my fingers back through my hair again to get control of it before walking to the front door. "Who is it?" I called

"Dom" He said from the other side and I shook my head and pushed my phone back into my pocket, of course he'd be here. I unlocked the door and pulled it open and he gave me a smile and while his tan face scrunched up I could see the dark shadows under his eyes.

"What are you doing here this early?"

"I was the one on detail last night, got your text so I thought I'd be friendly and talk to you in person instead of through a phone" He said "Mind if I come in?" He asked and I pulled the door open wider and he smiled once again before stepping inside and I closed the door behind me.

"What happened to Tom?" I asked

"Officer Wheeler had a family emergency, plus he couldn't be watching your house 24/7 without getting tired so I offered to cover for him"

"That was nice of you" I said while my eyes narrowed at him while he looked around the living room casually before taking a seat on the couch. He had become way too friendly and a lot less professional this past week and as I pushed my hand into my pocket without the phone, I felt the small edge of the pocket knife and felt a little less tense around him.

"I try" He said while he took raked his hand over his face "So you need to go to the store today? Perfectly okay as long as you don't mind being shadowed"

"By you? Don't you need sleep?" I asked him as I picked up my cup of water from the coffee table in front of him and took a long sip.

"I don't need much, plus I'm sure you're itching to get out of your house since Michelle left" He stood up from the couch and pushed his hand into his blue jeans pocket and pulled out his phone "Let me make a few calls to the station, take your time getting ready. When you're all set just let me know" I nodded while he walked to the door and let himself out, his phone pressed to his ear already.

I pulled my hand out of my pocket and double locked the door once again while taking my head. I had asked him about the photos after he had found them out after a routine check of the apartment during the week. He had said he had forgotten, he said that he was drunk most of the times he was at the watering hole; but now he was sober. He apologized a few times and then took the photos for his file on the case.

As I changed into light blue jeans and a black tank top, I checked out my hair in the mirror and made a face at myself. I was such a mess; I bet Dominic got an eyeful from the pajama shorts I had been wearing too. I walked into the bathroom and ran my fingers through my hair with mouse on my palms and styled it properly until I was satisfied and then I applied little makeup on my face and sprayed some perfume on my wrists and the side of my neck before going back to my room and put on my white converses.

Even getting dressed made me feel useful; at least I had somewhere to go outside of this confinement even if it was just the grocery store. I sent him a quick text minutes later to let him know I was all set and as I put my sunglass on and grabbed my keys from my dresser, I heard the knocking on the front door again. Mother fucker, did he never stop?

"Yes?" I asked once I had unlocked the door and he was standing there on the other side.

"Unfortunately I won't be going, going to stay here and watch over the place just in case he decides to come around" I noticed a man dressed in casual clothing come walking up the walk way and I raised an eyebrow "This is Jerry, he's one of our UC's but he's a guy I trust. Jerry this is Abigail" I smiled at the man who was around his mid-thirties and he shook my hand gently.

"Great to meet you Abigail, are you ready?" I nodded and pulled the brown leather strap of my purse up on my shoulder higher before closing the door behind me and locking it with my keys. Jerry briefed me before I got into my car that he was just going to be following me around the store and in his black truck the whole time so I shouldn't be worried because he had my back if anything was to happen. I had just met the man and I felt safer with him than in the hands of Dominic.

I started my jeep and ran my hands over the leather steering wheel and took a moment to find something good on the radio before pulling out of the long driveway. As I drove I noticed myself glancing at the rearview mirror to check that he was still behind me and there he was, his truck was hard to miss. I drove the long way around to whole foods because I needed to go through a drive through at a coffee shop because I was an addict for my caffeine.

After getting to the grocery store, I put my bag in the baby seat in front and held onto my iced coffee while I pushed the cart with my other hand. I took my time to say the least. I made sure to go down every aisle and as I was halfway done, my phone rang it's ringtone in my back pocket. I picked it up with a smile after seeing who it was that was calling me.

"Just the voice I had been dying to hear all morning" I said and I heard him chuckle on the other end.

"You don't sound like shit this time, what's going on?"

"Oh thanks baby" I mocked a hurt voice but couldn't hold back the small laugh as I continued "I'm drinking a coffee and I'm at the grocery store, today has already been a good day."

"You're out of your apartment?" He asked

"Don't worry I have a guy following me, pretty sure he needed to do some food shopping too…" I grabbed the coffee creamer off of the shelf and put it into the cart while I still spoke to him.

"As long as you're safe, you do sound happier though. Michelle drove up to the club house last night and I have expected you to get out of the car with her"

"I know" I said with a little disappointment "I really want to be there Jax, I'm still pestering Detective Morrow and Howard about it, hopefully one day they'll see it my way. Lays or Doritos?" I asked out of the blue as I looked at the chips in front of me.

"Doritos" He said without a beat and I grabbed the bag and tossed it into the cart "I might have to give this Detective Morrow a call if he doesn't budge Abs, I fucking can't stand not being there with you, especially right now."

"Soon baby" I walked towards the line and stopped the cart "Once you get me though you better not let go."

"Never" He vowed and then he yawned which made me roll my eyes and then I heard a ding noise on his end, like he was walking out of a convenience store or walking into one.

"What are you doing right now?" I asked while putting my 10 items up onto the black belted table.

"Just stopped into a corner store, gotta grab a few things… mind if I call you back later?" He asked

"Yeah I'd like that, tell Mish I miss her when you see her"

"Will do darlin', stay safe"

"Always." I hung up then and slipped the phone into my back pocket and paid the cashier once my order was complete and then walked back to my jeep to load the three bags into the backseat. I waited until Jerry was all set in his truck before pulling out of the parking lot and made my way back to my apartment.

After putting the groceries away, I made another coffee and sat back on the couch with the Doritos and started to flip through the channels to find something reasonable on at noon on a Sunday. I finally found Maury and put the remote down and indulged in the junk food and the television show.

"You are NOT the father" I said along with Maury as he read the results and I laughed as the man starting to jump up and down and dance uncontrollably and the larger woman ran off with her hands over her face in shame. That's what happens when you spread your legs for the whole town sweetheart; it's your own fault. I tossed the bag of chips onto the coffee table and stood up when I finished my coffee and walked into the kitchen and cleaned the mug and put it up on the strainer and walked into my room to grab some DVD's before going back to the living room and popping in Breakfast Club.

_'Soooooo what are you up to?' _

Came a text from Misha halfway through the movie and I smiled while rolling onto my back on the sofa and I texted her back.

_'Watching Breakfast Club, are you jealous?'_

_'Incredibly. So having a boring day? What's up with Dom today?'_

_'Very boring. He let me out of the house today tho. Went to Whole Foods but now I'm back in prison, how's Charming?' _I put the phone down on the table when there was a knocking at the door. My phone buzzed again as I unlocked the locks and pulled the door open and was expecting Dominic and yes he was there but there was someone behind him that had started to make my heart race quickly.

"Sorry to bother you again but this man says he's your boyfriend" I kept my eyes on Jax as he winked at me with a grin on his perfect lips.

"Uh what?" I asked as I looked at Dominic quickly "Yes, yeah he is; what's the problem?"

"No problem, just wanted to check. Jerry's going to take watch, I'm heading back to the office" I nodded at him quickly, just wanting him to leave already "Call me if you need anything."

"Sure, thanks" I showed him a quick smile before he nodded and looked back at Jax before walking away. "You! What are you doing here?" I asked him as he swooped in finally and wrapped an arm around my lower back and his hand pressed to my jaw as his lips found mine in the threshold of the doorway. I melted against him while my hands stayed on his chest and as his lips left mine he pressed his forehead against mine.

"I did say I couldn't stand not being here with you" He whispered and my hands moved up over his chest to wrap at the back of his neck.

"You're such a hopeless romantic" I said with a smile and he rolled his eyes

"Me? Fuck no. I just missed my girl" I leaned up and kissed him again and as I stumbled backwards while he moved forwards, he turned us around so that after he shut the door he could press me back up against it. My hand fell away from the back of his neck and my hand blindly found the lock and I clicked it into place "You don't have anything to be worried about" He said after he heard it.

"It's a habit" I said as his hands moved down my sides and he gripped the bottom of my tank top and started to pull it up until it was over my head and on the floor by our feet.

"I'm not going anywhere" He whispered against my ear.

"You have to leave sometime, you have the club"

"They understand" He said and as his fingers made contact with my bare waist; I let out a small sigh of contentness. "Where's the bedroom?" He asked and I smirked while grabbing his hand and pulled him along with me to the hallway and into my bedroom. He stayed pressed against my backside while his hands moved down my stomach and to the button on my jeans. That was easily undone as well as the zipper.

"Are you really going to take your time?" I asked him "Because I'm really fucking impatient."

He gripped the sides of my jeans at my hips and pushed them down and I stepped out of them and turned around to pull his blue and white t-shirts off. "Wait… where's your cut?" I asked him, thinking back to it now I didn't even hear his motorcycle pull up to the apartment.

"No need for it, drove the truck down" I nodded and dropped the two shirts down onto the floor and took in a deep breath. No matter how many times I had seen him bare it still left goosebumps along my skin. He took great pride in looking good and he knew the effect it had on me from the first night we spent together at his house. I traced my nails down over his milky toned abs and hooked my hand into his belt "Talk about someone taking their time" He muttered and I gave his belt a hard tug just for that comment.

As his loose dark blue jeans fell onto the floor, he gathered me into him again before we tumbled onto my white fluffed sheets. "You're beds more comfortable than mine" He mumbled while his teeth nipped at my shoulder and I shook my head.

"I beg to differ, much prefer your bed" His knee came up slowly in between my legs as he hovered over me in the middle of the queen sized bed that head never seen action like this. He pushed that black strap of my bra down and unclasped it from the front between my breasts and he let it fall away as I tossed it with my left hand behind him somewhere. His rough fingertips trace at the skin just above my underwear while his lips moved down my chest until his teeth nipped at one of my very erect nipples. "Mmm, Jackson" I whispered in pleasure, waiting in anticipation for his fingers to finally stop teasing me.

When his lips found their way back up to my neck, I grew too impatient and grabbed his wrist and guided his hand down and as he cupped over my heated sex, I slipped my hand into his white briefs and wrapped it around his already hard pulsing member. "Christ Abs" He gasped in a whisper against my ear. My hand continued to jerk him as his fingers finally hooked into my underwear and he pulled it down until it was hanging from one of my ankles.

"Fuck" I breathed out as his index and middle finger sunk deep into my folds and curled up against my spot. He used his other hand to push at the side of his briefs and I helped him until he was kicking them off as he fingers continued to slowly torture me while pumping between my thighs. "Shit" I gasped as his fingers curled up again and I felt the tightening in the pit of my stomach already. He grinned down at me because he knew he had found the right spot. I was about to tell him to stop but once his fingers started to pump quicker and a bit harder all thoughts faded.

The orgasm rocked me harder than I had thought it would and halfway through my pleasurable ride, he slipped his fingers out of me and ran the tip of his cock down over my wet folds until he was positioned at my clenched entrance and he pushed through it. "God dammit" He said in a tight voice once he pressed his hips down against mine, my walls continued to quake around him until it slowly started to stop. He moved his face from the crook of my neck and looked down at my flushed face.

"Are you okay?" I asked him in a breathless voice

"Yeah, why are you asking if I'm okay?"

"You said…" He cut me off by kissing me passionately and he started to finally move his stilled hips slowly against mine.

"You're tight as shit, that's why I said it" He answered me after a few more moments.

"You're fault" I whispered up at him and he smirked, thinking to himself that it was okay to be at fault for that. He leaned up over me and held onto my waist as his patients wore thin and he let his selfish side take over. His hip thrusts were quick but precise, he had a goal and he was getting closer and closer to it with every hit of his tip against my hilt.

"You're so fucking sexy" He said down at me as I gripped at the sheets by the side of my head "Shit" He gasped as he felt the pressure building within his abdomen. I ran my hand down over my stomach and started to rub my fingers against the button of nerves, wanting to get off with him this time.

It was minutes later that his hips started to erratically move between my legs and I gasped loudly against his ear as he pressed his hard chest down on mine. I cried in pleasure as another orgasm flowed through me from head to toe and my hand fell away from between my thighs and it pressed to his lower back as his hips slowed and he grunted against the side of my head. It was the sweetest sound to me and I had missed hearing it. Once he stopped his movements, he brought his head back up and he kissed me lazily before rolling onto the side of me, his arm wrapping around my back to pull me into him.

I glanced up at his relaxed face as his heart pumped quickly within his chest. My fingers traced against the blonde scruffy hair along his jaw that had grown since last seeing him. I snuggled against his chest, my arm wrapping around his waist. "Nap time?" I whispered and he nodded while I smiled, there was nothing more that needed to be said as we both slowly drifted to sleep.


	23. Chapter 23

**I had a feeling you all would like that last chapter :) I really couldn't separate them forever, plus Jax is a 'take-charge' kind of guy and if he needs something done then he's just going to do it himself. With that being said, I hope you all enjoy this chapter just as much as the last! R&R :) xo**

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I slept for most of the afternoon and as I tried to roll over out of the bed a heavy leg was stopping from doing anything. Jax's arm was lying across my bare hip and his left leg was on top of mine. I wanted to push him off because all I could feel was pins and needles in my leg but he looked way too peaceful to wake up this second. My bladder would have to suffer for just a few more minutes as I watched him sleep with an arm under the side of his head.

I traced my fingers up his shoulder and to the side of his neck to push back his blonde hair behind his ear. "Baby?" I whispered as my fingers gently massaged into his earlobe to wake him up.

"Hmm?" He hummed without opening his eyes yet but his arm wrapped tighter around my side.

"I have to get up but your leg is like a thousand pounds" He smirked at my words and slowly moved his leg from mine and I let out a breath as the feeling started to come back to it. "I'll be back, do you need anything?" He shook his head and I was about to pull away from him but he pulled me against him again "Jax" I whined, my bladder aching in pain. He kissed my forehead and then finally let me go.

I got to my feet and grabbed one of his t shirts from the ground as I walked down the hall quickly to the bathroom. As I sat on the toilet to relieve my bladder, I pulled the shirt on and took in a deep breath. Things were finally a lot easier with him here and I wasn't going to take it for granted that he was here with me instead of up in Charming with his club. I'm sure Gemma ripped him a new one when he brought up coming down here.

After washing my hands, I walked into the kitchen and grabbed two water bottles and walked back into the bedroom to see him sitting on the edge of the bed with his white boxer-briefs on and his hands were raked through his hair with his elbows on his knees. "What's wrong?" I asked him and he looked up at me once I made myself present.

"Nothing darlin', come here" I walked over and tossed the waters down on the bed next to him as he wrapped his arms around my lower back and pressed the side of his head against my stomach. I ran my fingernails over his scalp gently and sighed.

"Something's going on, what it is?" When he didn't answer me I climbed onto his lap and straddled it. "You can talk to me ya know."

"Can I?" He asked and I narrowed my eyes at him quickly before nodding

"I'm not an idiot Jax, and I'm also not a rat. You know my shit and something's eating you up, so just tell me; I'm not going to judge you" His hands slid onto my bare thighs as he sighed.

"I found this manuscript that my father wrote before he died and since then it's had me questioning a lot of shit"

"Like what?" I asked him in a quiet voice

"He was trying to get the club out of running guns" He said and I blinked a few times but nodded. I knew in the back of my head that the Sons weren't just a motorcycle gang, there had to be more to it and there it was. His blue eyes swept over my face for a reaction but I didn't give one so he continued "He just wrote about all the shit that went wrong and how he wanted it to change, I'm not done reading it but I got the jist of it."

"So it has you questioning your position in the club?" I asked him while I traced small patterns along his collarbone "Have you talked to Gemma about it? Maybe she knew what John wanted."

"I'm not talking to my mother about it, hell; she'd probably blow a fucking gasket knowing that I have it. I've just been thinking a lot about how I would want the club to run when I become President, it's inevitable, Clay's hands are going…" He explained

"Arthritis, I know; he told me at the second barbeque. But Jax, if you want the club to stop running guns then talk to Clay about it. He's your step-dad and he seems like a reasonable man-"

"That's because he likes you" He said as he interrupted me "Him and I, we've never had a father-son relationship; it's just all business most of the time" I sighed at this because I knew from past conversations how he would speak about John Teller, his biological father; how much he missed that man and it made me wish I could have known him.

"Well you'll never know his opinion on it unless you bring it up…"

"True" He said while his hands bunched up the blue t-shirt of his I was wearing at my hips. "You know, I'm starving; what do you have to eat?" I took that as a time to change the subject onto lighter things and so I did happily.

"Well you're in luck because I went shopping before my boyfriend decided to surprise me" He gave me a small grin "I have left over pizza, Chinese food, but I can also make something if you're really hungry."

"Left over pizza and Chinese food sounds good to me babe" He planted a sloppy kiss on my lips before pressing his hand to my ass and stood up gracefully. I hooked my ankles together at his lower back as he started to walk out of my room.

* * *

"How many times does this fucking Detective check on you?" Jax asked me with frustration in his voice later that night. I flopped back on the couch and into his side that I had been occupying for the larger portion of the night.

"Usually four or five times, most of the time it's just a quick phone call though; he's never actually showed up at my place unannounced three times after dark"

"Has he asked about me?" He asked "He looked surprised that you had a boyfriend when I showed up"

"I told him briefly that I did, he must have forgotten…" I sighed and grabbed the remote to press play again on our movie that I paused.

"Do you trust him?" He asked a few minutes later and I turned my head to look up at his face.

"What?" I asked

"Do you trust this guy? You said you two hung out a few times unintentionally in high school… so do you trust him?" It was a simple question really, but it was a complex answer. I hesitated to answer it right away because I didn't want to lie to him, and then if I said no then Jax would have us out of my apartment that night. "You don't, do you? What changed?"

I scooted up a bit to sit on the edge of the couch and I ran my fingers back through my hair carelessly. I guess that if we were going to leave it was a good thing that I was already packed then.

"It was small things at first… things he would say and then he'd contradict himself, then there were these photos that he took from me once he found them…" I tried to explain

"What photos?" He asked quickly, his body language no longer relaxed but tense and attentive.

"When I was packing up my things I found a few photo albums from high school and of my childhood, there were some photos from this watering hole… a lake that all of the seniors used to hang out at and he just happened to be in one of the photo while I was in it too"

"You two there were two photos, what was the other one?" I knew he wouldn't have missed that detail.

"It was of me and a friend, Dominic and Freddy were in the back of the photo talking in a small group" He was about to get up but I grabbed his arm to keep him there because there was more I had to say. "He told me he didn't know who Fredrick Mason was at the beginning and I believed him, he only said he remembered the name and his face because they used to play lacrosse on rival high school teams, Jax just wait" He tried to get up again and this time he pulled away from me.

"And he's the fucking guy on this case? Why the fuck didn't you tell me this?" He asked while raising his voice. He got to my room and grabbed his jeans that were on the side of my bed and started to pull them on.

"Because I knew what your reaction was going to be" I said with a sigh, closing the bedroom door and stood with my back against so he couldn't get out. "When he was doing a check of the apartment last week before Misha left, he found the photos on my dresser. He said he needed them for the case, he looked genuinely surprised that we had been photographed together in the first place."

"Get out of the way" He said once his white t-shirt was pulled over his head.

"No" I said with as much determination that I could muster up. He was very intimidating when he had a goal that needed to be done, especially because he was now mad.

"Abby, get the fuck out of the way" He said a bit louder and I shook my head. "Then pack up your shit because we're getting out of here."

"I had a feeling you were going to say that… but look, I pieced it all together and yeah I know he's a dirty detective but I've been staying quiet"

"You've known… for how long?" He asked

"For a few days"

"And you thought living here alone would be fucking better? Get dressed we're leaving in less than an hour."

"And how do you suppose I tell him out there that we're leaving?" I moved away from the door when I started watching him open up my closet of full boxes.

"Does Freddy have a flyer out so people know who to look for?" I nodded as he walked towards the door and I followed him while buttoning my jeans and smoothing down my tank top. He had his phone out and in his hand while he dialed a number and pressed the phone to his ear. He pulled the dark blinds to the side just a little bit to see Dominic's car still parked across the street.

"Hi yes, I just came across a flyer for a wanted person, a Fredrick Mason… yes, I saw him just enter the bar over by…" He looked back at me and I whispered 'Brooks Avenue'. He repeated that into the phone and then nodded to himself "Yes I'm sure it was him, one hundred percent. My name? Stephen Dixon" I rolled my eyes and then he hung up. It was only a few moments later that there was knocking on the door again. I looked back at Jax and he nodded while I walked to the door and took in a deep breath, the knocking had become persistent now.

"Yeah? What now?" I asked Dominic as he lowered his fist from the now open door.

"Just got a tip in to the station, everyone's heading over there"

"A tip…?" I acted stupid "For Freddy? Someone found him?"

"Seems like it, I'm going to go head over there but there's no once to cover the house just in case it was a false ID" He started to say and Jax came up behind me and slid his arm around my waist possessively.

"I think I can take care of her" He said and I watched Dominic's face harden as he glared at Jax.

"I'm not going to leave her unarmed" Dominic said

"I said I can take care of her" He pulled his hand away from me for a second to show off the gun that was now in his hand "Don't worry Detective, it's registered." I doubted that. I took in a deep breath and looked from the black gun to Dominic again.

"Good to know. Keep your phone on you, I'll call with an update" I nodded as he gave me a small smile and then turned to leave. Jax pushed the door shut immediately and locked it, and then he pushed the gun into his waistband.

"A gun" I said and he nodded "Okay then." He walked to the window and watched him leave and then he made a call while I walked back into my room and started to throw together some boxes.

"No, no you're staying in the house" Jax said once he was off of the phone and I was halfway out of the front door to load the boxes into my car "And we're not taking your car, that's an easy trace of finding you. Stay here and just load the boxes by the door."

We were rushing now. Even though Brooks Avenue was on the other side of Los Angeles, it wouldn't take very long to notice it was a false Identification and Dominic would be on his way over here. I did as I was told though, loaded the boxes by the door and Jax was quickly loading them up in the back of his truck. As I put the last box down by the door a black SUV pulled up to the front of the house. I felt like I wasn't breathing for the longest time until I saw who had been inside; it was the three amigos as Misha called them. Former members of the Sons of Anarchy, that's who Jax must have called.

"Babe I need your keys" Jax said as he walked up to the house and I took in a deep breath.

"Why?"

"Charlie is going to-"

"He's going to crash it isn't he? Cliff told me a story that Charlie liked to destroy things" I held onto my car keys in my palm tighter. I had worked so hard for that car and it was finally all paid off a couple of months back.

"It's a believable story" He only said and then held out his hand and I closed my eyes while handing them to him. "Is this anything else you need? Because we're not coming back" I nodded while he turned around to hand over the keys and I walked back into my room and grabbed my purse from the dresser and then lifted up the mattress and grabbed the journal. I quickly stuffed the leather bound book into my bag before leaving the room.

By the time I walked outside my jeep was gone from the driveway as well as the black SUV on the curb. "Are you ready?" Jax asked after putting the tarp down over the bed of his truck so my things didn't fall out on the high way. I nodded silently just as my phone started to ring in my back pocket. I ignored it while I hopped into the front seat and he started up the engine before pulling away from my apartment.

My phone started to ring again and this time I couldn't ignore it and as I held it out in front of me, Jax glanced over at me. "That him?" I nodded

"Yeah he just called twice" I powered the phone down and rolled down the window, then chucked the phone into the wind. It was a sudden flashback moment for me, but instead of Los Angeles, I was in Texas somewhere. I always seemed to throw my phone out of the window of a car when I was trying to get away from Freddy. But now it wasn't just Freddy, it was his friend too. It was a guy who I thought had the best intentioned with my well-being until recently.

Jax put his hand down on my thigh and gave it a small squeeze "You're going to be alright" He tried to reassure me but really not even him saying the words did much. My life was a constant wheel of running. It was like I was a hamster stuck in a clear ball and I had no escape. We could take every precaution to keep me hidden but this was only going to end badly, just like everything else in my life.

"I know" I whispered back to him, putting a hand down over his gently "I'm just worried that he took down your plates."

"There's no doubt that he did, I'll change them when we get back to Charming" I nodded again and scooted across the long seat to be closer to him. I leaned my head against his shoulder while he drove onto the highway, thanking God that at least he got a few hours of sleep this afternoon because it was going to be a long drive.


	24. Chapter 24

**Hey everyone! Sorry for the long delay in the update, work has been super hectic! But here is chapter 24! xo**

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I wasn't planning on moving in with Jackson Teller when I had finally got to Charming and in the back of my head I was still hesitant on the whole living together thing. Dating for less than a month and here we were, unpacking my boxes to find places in his home for them. Jax did have a second set of license plates in one of his bedroom drawers so that was the first thing he did when we got back at 3am, I held the flashlight.

When we had finally laid down to sleep in his bed a few hours later before the sun rose over the horizon, he apologized for yelling at me back in Los Angeles. He said that he didn't mean to scare me, and I had laughed it off and made sure to let him know that if he planned on yelling at me again then he'd face a bitch in the morning.

Our sleeping schedule would be screwed up for a few days, considering we went to sleep at 6am, we woke up around 10 still very tired. I had taken a shower while he made some phone calls; eventually I would have to call Misha to fill her in on what happened, I don't think she would appreciate me just showing up unannounced at Opie's. When I finally got out of the shower feeling a little less violated, Jax was opening a second box and putting some of my clothes into a dresser drawer that he cleared out.

"You should call Michelle, she got a call from the police station saying they found your car wrapped around a guardrail on the south California freeway this morning" He said to me before I could pull the towel from my wet hair.

"Oh" I whispered, my shoulders slumping a bit. "Did you tell her that I was alright?" I asked him while holding the towel in my hand.

"Yeah, here..." He handed me his prepay cell phone before continuing "We'll get you a new phone this week."

I nodded while taking the phone and dialing Misha's number. I tossed the towel into the hamper for cleaning before walking into the living room and I sat on the edge of the couch, preparing myself for this conversation.

"Hello?" I heard her voice on the other line.

"Hey, it's Abby; I'm sorry I had you worried"

"What the hell is going on Abs!? Detective Morrow called me at nine this morning and said they found your jeep out by Washington Boulevard burnt to a crisp; he kept asking me if I had heard from you at all" I could tell by the tone of her voice that she had been through one hell of a morning.

"I'm sorry. We had to make a quick exit last night and so Jax gave Charlie the keys to the jeep to get rid of it. Did Dominic ask you anything else?"

"No, all he did was say that there was a false alarm last night with some tip the police station got and by the time he got back to the apartment your car as well as Jax's was gone and the front door was smashed in, you had me so-"

"Wait what did you just say?" I asked her "Did you say the front door was smashed in?"

"Yeah? Why?"

"We didn't do that… we locked it behind us when we left"

"Do you think…?" I took in a deep breath at her words and stood up "Do you think it was Freddy?"

"I don't know, could have been Dominic trying to get into the apartment too, trying to cover his ass…" I walked into the kitchen and stood in front of the two boxes on the table "Can I see you later? I'm just unpacking boxes now."

"Yeah of course, you don't have a car so… want me to pick you up around 3? We can grab lunch in the square"

"Yeah that sounds like a good idea, I'll see you then" I hung up right after and walked down the hall after grabbing some water and put the phone down on the dresser. "Dominic told Misha that the front door was broken into when he got back to my apartment last night" I told Jax and his head shot up to look at me from the pieces of clothing in his hands. Such a man, of course he'd go through my under garment box.

"It's a good thing we got out of there when we had, what else did he say to her?" He asked while tossing the underwear into a drawer.

"Nothing else; I'm going to see her for lunch at 3"

"Good, I have shit to deal with at the club house. Take my prepay" I had expected him to put up a fight considering we had just left L.A with a mad, ex-fiancé and a dirty detective after me.

"Alright…" I whispered as I grabbed a box from the side of the closet and pulled the tape from it to see what was inside. "I don't think I'm going to need these anytime soon" I said to myself while tossing the box to the side, not wanting to see my dancing clothes or DVD's.

"I wouldn't mind seeing you in these" Jax said from behind me as he lifted a pair of short yoga shorts from the top of the box and I rolled my eyes.

"I thought you said you'd rather see me in nothing" I teased while his face finally showed some expression of a smile.

"Can't have everyone seeing my old ladies goods…" He put the shorts back into the box "So no more dancing?" He asked while running his fingers back through his hair.

"Not unless I get a job over at the dance studio by the square"

"You shouldn't just quit because of all of the shit going on Abs" He told me as he sat down on the edge of the bed "You love doing it."

"I do" I sighed out while hanging up a few things in the closet "I'll talk to Mish about it, she said she knows the owner and there's a studio up for sale in Stockton."

"It'll get your mind off of this shit"

"That's for sure" I muttered after putting some shoes on the floor of the closet next to a pair of his boots. "So about my car…"

"Mind driving the truck for now until we can get you a new car? I know it's not some brand new jeep but-"

"The truck is fine, I'm sure I won't be doing much away from the house until they declare me dead or something" I folded up the empty box and then glanced over at him, he still didn't look happy.

"If this guy is persistent, he'll know where to go next"

"You think he'll come here?" I asked him and he stood to go to the dresser. He took the knife that he usually wore against his hip and put it back onto his belt and fixed the dark jeans he wore. "You're expecting him to" I whispered when he didn't answer me.

"He's going to know you're not dead, they might drop everything in L.A. But if Freddy is smart then he'll know, especially with you telling me that your door was busted open after we left. I wouldn't be surprised if he was already half way to Charming by now."

"And yet you want me out with Misha today?"

"I want you to act as if nothing is wrong. Only Op and Michelle knows what's going on and it's gonna stay that way. If shit gets out of hand I'll tell the club but until then we're dealing with it" I nodded at his words. There was no need in telling the club or his family what was going on until things started to get bad up here, no one else should be in harm's way because of me. "So go to lunch, go for your runs in the morning; do everything you usually do because nothing's going to happen."

"How can you be so sure about that Jax? You don't know Freddy"

"You're right, I don't know him. But the second he steps foot in Charming someone will know and then the club will know. Hell, when you came up here everyone was talking about the new girl. Charming isn't that big of a town darlin', I'll know."

I shook my head at his words. As much as I wanted to believe him, he was wrong. He didn't know how Freddy ticked and when he wanted something this bad, he usually got it.

"Don't shake your head at me, you're gonna be fine" He stood in front of me and cupped his rough hands over my cheeks, brushing a few damp strands of hair from my temple. "You have to trust me on this."

"I do" I whispered "Or I want to" His hands fell away from my face then but I grabbed onto them down by his sides. "I know you're going to protect me at any cost Jax and I'm so thankful for that because I'd never felt safe until I met you. You just have to understand where I'm coming from. Freddy…. He's relentless, and persistent. The way I left him was wrong-"

"No the way you left him was-" he started to cut me off but I put my finger up to his lips.

"Let me finish… the way I left him was wrong because I should have left him a year and a half before that when all of the abuse started. I should have left the first time he raised a hand to me, or even the first time he…" I swallowed the words down before I let them spill and I watched Jax's blue eyes harden.

"He what?" He asked me and I shook my head "You have to tell me what he's done to you; I need to know what I'm up against here Abs."

"You don't want to know Jax, I don't even want to say it because it becomes too real again" he started to take steps back towards the bed and I followed him reluctantly until he sat and he pulled me onto his lap.

"Tell me everything, don't spare me the details"

"No, I'm not doing this because I don't think you can handle it. I'm doing this so I don't have those nightmares again."

"The one you had here?" I nodded

"They're too real it's like it's happening again" I was looking away from him towards the window, remembering more so the emotional pain of it all than the physical. "He came home drunk; it was just past one in the morning the first time it happened. By that time he had been hitting me every now and then over stupid things and apologizing and doing something sweet for me to make up for all of those times. Me being stupid and naïve believe that he wouldn't do it again until it happened a next time." His fingers stayed interlocked with mine on one hand as his other hand slid up onto the side of my neck to turn my face to look at him. "You have to promise me you're not going to get mad and go on some rampage Jax."

"I won't" He said, his eyes no longer hard as they captured mine with their softness.

"I was asleep because I worked the morning shift at this dinner by his work, I'd seen him drink plenty of times but he had never been _that_ drunk before. He woke me up by tripping over something in the living room, thought that it was funny when he came into the room I was standing there holding a bat that we kept by the bed. He um…" I started to say as the words flowed from my mouth like I was on autopilot, the memories resurfacing like a movie being played in my head.

_"__What are ya gonna swing it at me baby?" He asked, his deep southern accent blowing his whiskey breath on my face. He reached down and gripped the bat from my shaking hands as he pulled it away from me and tossed it behind him as it clattered onto the wooden floor. _

_"__No… I thought you were an intruder" I told him honestly. "Why don't we get you to bed, I have work in the morning" I started to unbuckle the belt on his jeans but his hands slid around my wrists to squeeze them hard and I instantly stopped._

_"__Did I say I wanted to go to bed?" He asked "I'll go to bed when I'm fucking ready to go to bed sweetheart."_

_"__I'm sorry" I whispered and one of his hands fell away from my wrist to grip my chin, jerking my head to look up at him._

_"__Why don't you get me a cold beer from the fridge" He saw the hesitation in my eyes and I knew better than to speak the words I was about to let out, that he shouldn't have another. "Better yet why don't we make ourselves comfy" He let me other wrist go and wrapped his arm around my waist to pull me flush against him._

_"__Baby" I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady "I have work in a couple of hours, can we do this tomorrow when I get home?"_

_"__You want to do this tomorrow? I just worked a double and went out with the boys and you want to do this tomorrow 'cause you gotta work a morning fucking shift, are you tryin' to be funny? 'Cause I'm not getting the punch line." _

_"__I'm not, I'm just really tired and I-" His hand was too fast for me to see but the blowing pain of my cheek after was enough to tell me that he had punched me this time, not slapped me. As I cradled the side of my aching face, he tossed me onto the bed and pinned my hands down above my head while his hips grounded into my open legs. _

As I finished telling Jax what had happened he was looking down in between our laps. It was so humiliating that he couldn't even look at me. His breathing was heavier, and his shoulders weren't tense like I thought they would be. "It happened a few more times after that, soon I realized telling him that I was going through my time of the month, he wouldn't touch me."

"I'm so sorry that happened to you" He said finally after a few more moments of silence.

"It's not your fault Jax, no one knew and I was dumb enough to still be with him" I ran my fingers back through his blonde hair that had somehow grown in the couple of weeks that we had been apart.

"If he steps foot in Charming…" He started to say but trailed off.

"I know" I whispered "As much as I don't like it, it has to happen" He looked up at me at my words, a little surprised myself that I actually said it rather than him.


	25. Chapter 25

**WOW so many reviews on the last chapter, I guess being back in Charming will do that ;) I love seeing the reviews with questions on if Dominic and Freddy are working together, or separately; keep it coming with the speculations! Remember to read and review :) xo**

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"Why didn't you tell me you knew he was dirty? I wouldn't have left you alone" Misha said as she put her beer down. She insisted on day drinking after I had tried to order a water with my food order; she ordered me a Bacardi and Coke.

"Because I knew you wouldn't have left, it wasn't like I was alone long; Jax was at my door later yesterday afternoon. I'm just glad I packed up my things around the house because if I hadn't I'd probably be naked right now or in Jax's clothes" She smirked and looked me over quickly.

"I'm sure you two had some fun when he surprised you. When I showed up he told me he was going down there to see you, I'm just glad he was there when all of this went down… so how's the living arrangement going? I know it hasn't even been a day but you said you didn't want to move in with him right away."

"Well considering all of my things are unpacked and the boxes are put away, I don't think I'll be moving anytime soon."

"You two are perfect for each other have I ever told you that?"

"You have, and thank you for this… I really needed to get my mind off of things and with Jax doing shit with the club today I didn't really want to be alone" I took a long sip from my glass as she nodded.

"Well you don't have to worry about being alone again; you've got a whole family; the club, plus my family just up the street. I told my mom after I got off the phone with you that you made a surprise move over night and she's thrilled that you're here for good"

"I bet she is" I smirked and then gave a small smile at the waitress who served us our meals. I ordered an easy BLT sandwich with fries on the side; she opted out for a salad because she was going to be making a big dinner tonight for her and Opie. We ate and spoke; mostly about what had happened last night and I had told her to expect Dominic to call her more than one more time. She knew not to give anything away; she was a really good liar when she needed to be.

After lunch and more drinks than I should have accepted, Misha drove us to the club house at five fifteen. The club was still in a meeting in the back room and we knew better than to interrupt that, so we walked across the parking lot to a waiting Gemma who was outside of her office smoking a cigarette, when we walked up I noticed that it was a joint instead. She must have been having a rough day like the rest of us.

"Hey sweetheart, I'm so glad you're back so soon" She gave me a light hug and I smiled while hugging her back "Was getting tired of seeing my son sulk over not having you around."

"Jax sulking? Now I would pay to see that" Misha said as Gemma gave her a grin.

"But of course Jax being the sweet talker he is got you back up here a day after he went down there to spend the weekend with you, what did he say to get you to change your mind?" She asked while we walked into her cooled office.

"He didn't need to say much, I was planning on moving up here in a week and a half anyway; now just seemed like a better time than any" Gemma smiled over at me before dropping to sit in her black chair behind her desk.

"Surprised you didn't take the jeep with you" She said. It was Gemma Morrow, she always knew when something was going on; but I wasn't going to give her any reason to think that something was really going on.

"The jeep is sadly gone. I got into a fender bender a week ago; air bags went off so it's totaled"

"Oh shit, are you alright?" She asked and I nodded, feeling a bit guilty because she actually looked concerned.

"Yeah, not a scratch on me thankfully, airbags nearly knocked the wind out of me though"

"Tell me about it, those suckers can do damage" She said while leaning forward and gathering a few folders on her desk. "Oh looks like church is out" She said and I turned my head around to see a few of the guys walking in the parking lot. I smiled and pulled my bag up onto my shoulder as all three of us exited the office.

I watched as Jax spoke with Chibs and Bobby by the picnic table and Opie gave me a bear hug that lifted me off of my feet when he spotted the two of us. "Fucking awesome you're back in town."

"Thanks Op" I smiled and pulled away from him once he put me back down onto my feet and I laughed softly to myself.

"There just shooting the shit" He told me once he noticed my eyes go back over to the three men talking.

"I didn't want to interrupt"

"Believe me, it'll be a welcome interruption" His arm wrapped around Misha's shoulders as he kissed the top of her head gently. He towered over her, I still found it funny that after everything she went through with Tony back in L.A, and here Opie was waiting for her to come back to Charming to be with him.

"Thanks, I'll catch up with you later"

"Oh my darling, my beautiful, sexy, blonde darling" Tig said as I walked towards Jax, Bobby and Chibs.

"It's good to see you too Tigger" He smirked as I hugged him.

"How are you doing? Sick of being with Jax yet?"

"Never" I said with a small laugh "But if that somehow happens you'll be the first one I tell."

"Be sure to do that sweetheart" I smirked at Tig while giving a small shake of my head.

"I'll see you around Tig" I told him before we parted and I continued on my way to Jax and Bobby who were talking now, Chibs had found a brunette that peaked his interest by the line-up of motorcycles. Once Bobby spotted me behind Jax his once serious face turned into a full blown smile. I wrapped my arms around Jax's waist and kissed the leather of his cut in the middle of his shoulder blades. His arm moved up as I slid under his until his arm was placed around my shoulders and he gave me a quick kiss to the top of my head.

"Hey Bobby it's good to see you" I gave the older man a small smile and I received one back from him.

"Pleasure seeing you darlin', such a sight for sore eyes" I rolled my eyes while Jax just chuckled at Bobby's flirting.

"Hey man, I'll catch you later alright?" Jax said to the Sons secretary before he pulled me along with him into the club house.

"So I have some good news" I told him while he let me go and walked behind the bar to grab something.

"Yeah?"

"That dance studio over by the square is up for sale all of a sudden and while I was at lunch with Mish, she got a call saying her bid went through and she's the owner now" I tapped my fingers on the bar's counter top as he straightened himself out and he had a box in his hand.

"So you'll be working over there?"

"Once she gets the place up and running yeah, won't be for another week or two. But I'm going to help her out because apparently she put my name down as part owner" He looked at me now and raised an eyebrow and I nodded "Yeah I know."

"I'll have to thank her for keeping you busy until all of this shit gets sorted out, here" He slid me over a flip cell phone "It's not as fancy as your last but until-"

"Don't worry about it, as long as we can get in contact with each other then that's all I care about" I put the phone into my bag and then remembered something "Oh and about the piece that's in my bag, you could have warned me."

"I'll worry less when I know you can protect yourself" I hummed while nodding, dropping that conversation until we were at home. I had been in the bathroom at the restaurant and after dropping my bag onto the counter in front of the mirror all of the contents fell from it and scattered along the floor. Luckily I had seen it in time before another woman came in to use the restroom. "Any more calls from that Detective?" He asked

"No, not that I know of. He called her a few times this morning but if he's called again she hasn't said anything to let me know" He nodded and leaned against the bar and then sighed deeply before running his fingers back through his blonde hair "What's wrong?" I asked, sensing something was up.

"Nothing, just club shit." Right. Club shit that I didn't need to know about. "How are you doing?" He asked while changing the subject back onto me.

"I'm fine, really. Good job with changing the subject but you know I'm going to ask about it again later" Just then the phone in my bag started to ring loudly and that caused me to raise my eyebrow. I grabbed the phone and looked at the caller ID and then smirked at Jax "You gave Koz my number already?"

"He kept asking how you were, Kozik is fucking annoying so talk to him and later we'll talk about it" He gave me a quick kiss before leaving me alone to talk to my uncle.

"Hey Uncle Herman" I said into the phone and I heard him grumble on the other end.

"I told you not to call me that kid" I laughed and put my elbow up onto the counter top with the phone against my ear

"Sorry Koz, how are you doing? It's been like a week since I talked to you last."

"I'm alright, not much going on here in Tacoma. Heard you moved to Charming"

"Been talking to Jax?" I asked while looking back at my guy who was now talking to a blonde haired girl who looked to be around 25. I narrowed my eyes but didn't think too much into it.

"If you're not gonna pick up your phone yeah. He taking care of you alright?"

"He's taking great care of me Koz, I'm all moved in so I won't be leaving so when am I going to see you down here?"

"Still in talks with transferring out, don't worry you'll see me around there soon. So why the sudden jump from L.A. to Charming over night?" I bit down on my bottom lip and shrugged to myself.

"Jax can be very convincing when he wants to be, plus I was all packed up and ready to go anyway so I thought why not?"

"You got Mary's spontaneous gene I see" I raised an eyebrow at his choice of words.

"Yeah I guess I did… but anyways please come down to see me sometime or I'll have to come up to see you, I still owe you a beer"

"Shit yeah you do, this gonna be your number?"

"Yeah, so text me when you're around and I'll try and be in contact more, Jax told me you were calling his cell asking about me, I didn't know you were worried that much"

"I find my only blood left yeah I'm gonna be worried when you're not picking up your phone, don't do it again" he said with a bit of authority behind his voice and I smiled

"Yes sir, a text every couple of days?"

"I can agree to that. I've gotta go Abs, stay safe down there"

"You too up there uncle Koz"

"See ya kid" He hung then and I shut the phone and put it back into my bag with a smile while turning around after I stood up. Jax was finishing his conversation with the blonde and this time I noticed her hands placed on his bicep. I remembered seeing her around the club house before for the first Barbeque; she was sitting on a club member's lap from another charter.

Putting my bag down onto the counter, I walked over to them and slid myself in between the two and then placed a hand on the back of Jax's neck and brought his lips down onto mine. So my actions were out of pure jealousy but this croweater needed to know that Jax was taken and if he wasn't going to tell her to keep her paws off of him then I was. I heard the girl shuffle behind me, dropping her hand away from his arm when Jax snaked his arms around my waist to pull me against him. His teeth pulled at my bottom lip when we finished our passionate kiss and he pressed his forehead against mine.

"What are you doing darlin'?" He asked with a playful smirk on his lips

"Oh nothing"

"Really? Cause it seems to me you're marking your territory"

"So what if I am? If I'm your old lady Jax then I can do that"

"So you've accepted the name finally" He said while kissing my temple, his fingers pushed themselves into the back of my denim shorts.

"Yeah I guess I have… so next time a croweater decides to put a hand on you in my presence expect this to happen every time"

"Jealousy will-"

"Shut up" I mumbled while pressing my lips against his again and he gladly dropped the topic.

Once others came into the club house we separated and Jax was whisked away by Clay who was happy to see me back as well. As Gemma put a few things behind the bar I walked over and grabbed my bag "I saw what you did" She said and that caused me to cock my head to the side in confusion.

"What did you see?" I asked her as she placed a hand on her hip with a smile

"You grabbing Jax and basically telling that croweater to fuck off, I didn't know you had it in you Abby I'm impressed"

"Oh" I looked down and back up at her face "Thanks? I didn't know what came over me to be honest, just didn't like her hand on him is all."

"Ya know that's not going to be the last time that shit happens right?"

"I'm aware… guess I'm going to have to get that tattoo sooner rather than later" Her laugh caught me off guard but it made me laugh under my breath as well because she pulled her low cut white tank top to the side over her chest to show off hers.

"Believe me a croweater doesn't give a shit if the guys got an old lady, you just need to let them know he's taken all of the time"

"And how do I do that?"

"Satisfy him enough to know he won't be looking someplace else for pussy but from what I just saw you'll be fine just fitting in" I thought about her words as she left to go back outside. Had Clay looked someplace else? Was she speaking from experience? I would hate to think he would cheat on his wife but I guess that's what happens when you get older. Was Jax going to do that to me when we were older? I shook the thoughts from my head and took in a deep breath before leaving the club house as Misha was heading inside.

"Oh hey… everything okay?" She asked as I tried to hide what I was thinking on my face.

"Yeah, what's up?" I asked her

"I wanted to go by the dance studio tomorrow before the town fundraiser if you're up for it, check out the class schedule and add things if needed"

"Yeah that sounds good, I still need to get over to the store, Jax's fridge is empty and I thought of making some baked goods for tomorrow"

"Do you want to go over there now? I'm sure Jax doesn't want anything to do with shopping for groceries" Misha suggested and I nodded.

"Yeah let me just tell him and I'll meet you at your car" She nodded while I walked back into the club house.

"Hey Kip, where'd Jax?" I asked after scanning my eyes around but didn't see the blonde in sight.

"In his room" I nodded "its 3 doors down" He pointed toward the hallway while I thanked him and made my way down the short hallway and knocked on the closed door. It opened a few moments later and Jax pulled the door open more.

"So this is your dorm" I whispered while looking around "Why haven't I been invited back here yet?"

"That's a good question, what's up?" He asked as I glanced at the notebooks on his bed.

"Oh, right" I turned to face him as he looked me over with those incredible blue eyes. "Misha and I are going to head out to the store, pick up some groceries and then she's going to drop me back at the house."

"Sounds good, you sure you don't want me there?"

"I think I got this one covered" I patted a hand against his blue t-shirt clad chest and took in another deep breath before looking up at him "I'm sorry about earlier, sometimes my thoughts run wild and I act before thinking."

"Don't worry about it darlin', I enjoyed it" He brushed a few loose blonde strands away from the corner of my eye before dipping his head and gave me a quick kiss "I'll see you in a couple of hours, call me if you need anything" I nodded and leaned up to kiss him a bit longer this time.


	26. Chapter 26

**Quick update! Don't you just love those?! Well you can all thank my insomnia and my overly active imagination. Hope you all enjoy :) xo**

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After Misha had dropped me off, I pulled my hair up into a ponytail and went to work on unloading the groceries. Every shelf was filled once I was done with it. Jax couldn't complain about being hungry anymore because there was no excuse for this food to not be gone in the next couple of weeks. Putting the boxes of brownie mix and cookie mixes down onto the table; I changed into one of Jax's tees before starting on this task.

Sadly I had to clean out the oven that hadn't been used in years from the looks of it and that put me back a half hour. But after that I pre-heated the oven while I stirred the chocolate mix in the large bowl and then evenly disputed the chocolaty-goodness into a pan and pushed it into the oven. Then I got to work on the cookies, doing the same while eating cookie dough along the way.

As I pulled the last sheet of cookies out of the oven an hour later, I put them on top of the oven to cool off before putting them into the plastic containers I bought to put them in that were nearly filled to the brim with baked goods. I tossed the box into the garbage and turned around and put a hand over my chest when I noticed that I wasn't alone in the house any longer.

"Dammit Jax make a noise next time you come in" I took in a few breaths to calm my rapidly beating heart.

"Sorry darlin', it smells fucking amazing in this house right now"

"Well I'd hope so" I mumbled as he shrugged out of his cut as well as the flannel that was on underneath it, he needed it for the ride home on his bike.

"How many cookies did you make?" He asked while picking one up from the tray that I just pulled out of the oven and took a bite from it "Jesus these are good."

"Thanks, and enough to feed the town no biggie" He went for another cookie as I swatted his hand away "I made some for us already" I grabbed the container and handed it to him as he opened it up.

"Brownies too?"

"What can I say? I'm the modern day Betty Crocker" He looked me up and down and made an approved face.

"Betty Crocker couldn't beat how you look in my t-shirts though" I smirked while he grabbed a brownie and shut the container "You know what would be great with this right now?" He asked after he swallowed half the brownie.

"Milk?" I asked while opening up the fridge and he grinned before taking the carton from me and took a long sip from it. "You could at least grab a cup Jax, I didn't agree to move in with a savage" I hit his stomach playfully as I walked by to put the rest of the cookies into the clear container before putting the lid on it securely.

He put the carton back into the fridge before looking at all of the items on the shelves. "Damn, do you plan on cooking all of this?"

"I plan on feeding you sometime yes" He closed the door and leaned his shoulder against it as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Only sometimes?"

"Yes, but only if you've been a good boy"

"I guess I'm never eating then" He said as I let out a small laugh because it was true, Jax was always a bad boy.

* * *

"Oh god Jackson" I whimpered as the warm water sprayed on the both of us the next morning, it splashed and made a louder clapping noise as his hips worked against mine feverishly. The soft groans and grunts he was making by the side of my head were driving me that much quicker to our destination.

"Fuck" He mumbled as his lips pressed to my throat while my nails raked down his shoulders, he was nearly there; I could feel it in the way his muscles tightened. I slipped a hand between us to rub against my bundle of nerves because I knew he couldn't hold back for much longer without spontaneously combusting.

"Shit" I gasped while an orgasm shook through my body from my toes to my head that felt weightless now. His hips grounded into mine harder as his own climax took over him and his grip on my hips tightened for a few seconds before his whole body relaxed and he took deep breaths with his forehead pressed down against my shoulder.

He let my legs fall from his waist so that I was standing against the bathroom tiled wall, my hands pressed against his wet chest. "Need a minute?" He asked as I nodded and he leaned down and pressed his lips against mine before leaving the tub. I took in another deep breath before running my fingers back through my wet hair and I turned to be directly under the spray of the showerhead to wipe myself clean.

I definitely didn't have any orgasms left in my body after last night and this morning, it was just filled with touching and nakedness. I was never going to get over how breathtaking his body looked while he was bare though. I glanced to my right as he dried himself off and I shut off the shower as he handed me a towel and I made quick work to dry my body off.

"You know I've fucked up way too many times in my life to be this lucky" He said as I shimmied into my dark jeans and I turned around to look at him.

"What?" I asked him

"You" He said as he pulled on a white t-shirt, tossing his blue sweatshirt onto the end of the bed before walking towards me. My top half was still half naked, I still hadn't decided on a shirt to wear to the fundraiser. As his hands fell onto my waist I bit down on my tongue gently from making a noise of approval, he really didn't understand what his touch did to me sometimes.

"What about me?" I asked

"You know what Abs. Even with all this shit looming over our heads right now, I still got lucky when you walked into me that day at the store"

"I'm such a klutz" I whispered as he smirked

"I'm thankful for that" He gave me a long and slow kiss and I had to put my hand against his chest to make it stop after a few moments because if we didn't stop touching soon we'd just end up back in bed or even on the damn floor.

"You're amazing and yeah we both must have done something right to be together, I really don't know what I would do without you in my life Jax" His fingers brushed along the under wire of my bra gently which rose goosebumps to my skin. The horn outside made me sigh as I quickly pecked his lips before grabbing a royal blue long sleeve shirt with a pocket on the breast and slipped it over my head. I grabbed my bag from the counter and he gave me another long goodbye kiss which I had to reluctantly remove myself from to get the containers of baked goods in the kitchen before heading out to Misha's car before she beeped the horn for the fourth time.

"This space is incredible, I can't believe they took your low bid" I said to Mish as we went from the two rooms in the dance studio to the back office. It was much larger than I thought but it wasn't the big size of the studio back in L.A., which was completely fine.

"Right? I can't believe it either but it's ours, here" She handed me a paper of the old class schedules "I know you hated teaching but-"

"Don't worry about that, I actually don't mind it all that much" I scanned my eyes down the list of classes that had been going on here. "Swing class? Really?" I smirked

"I think we can cross that one off the list, as well as the Irish step; as much as I'd love to teach five year olds to step…" She crossed them off on her paper "So that leaves us with the after school hip-hop and Jazz classes, and the ballroom and Salsa classes. Take your pick" She said as I looked up from the paper

"Take my pick? You already know what I'm doing"

"Right. Ballroom it is" She said and I crumbled up my paper and threw it at her as she laughed. "When do you think we should put it out there for new sign ups?"

"As soon as possible, how about today at the fundraiser? We can print out a few pages for sign ups, I'm sure they'll be a lot of high school and middle school kids there with parents"

"Sounds good" She pulled open a few desk drawers and found a note pad and placed it on the desk. "Speaking of which, we should probably head over there and set up, here" She slid over an extra key to the studio's front door and I smiled wide before clipping it onto my new key chain that had three keys on it now, other than the studio; I had one to Jax's truck, and the house.

"Wow you didn't need to do this but it's greatly appreciated" Gemma said as she helped me with opening the containers of cookies and brownies.

"Well I managed to save a few containers that your son didn't eat" She laughed and nodded

"Jax always had a sweet tooth, surprised you saved this many" She told me as I remembered Jax telling me the first thing he stole as a child was a bag of gummy bears. She took a cookie from the container and ate it as she told me how good they were and that I would be in charge of baking next time there was a family dinner.

"So this is to raise money for the music program at the middle school?" I asked while people started to file in throughout the late morning and early afternoon.

"Yeah, I started it last year and decided why not do it again?" She scooped up some pasta and put it onto a man's plate before looking back over at me "What is Michelle doing?" She asked as I looked in the direction Gemma's eyes were.

"Oh, we bought the dance studio over by the town square, I think she's handing out flyers because we need to have sign ups soon to start working"

"You teach kids?" She asked

"We teach whoever wants to learn how to dance, in L.A. I subbed in on teaching street dance – hip hop for high schoolers and it went over really well so why not try it here? If we don't get enough signups for a class we won't do it."

"I'm sure that'll go over well here, too many kids thinking there thugs; it'd be good for them to show them that they aren't" I just smiled at her comment because that's how some people viewed hip hop as, just a bunch of thugs dancing; but it was much more.

"We're going to be teaching a salsa class, you should bring Clay by" I suggested and she started to laugh

"Oh honey he would ring me by my throat if I even mentioned it, imagine him dancing the salsa" I laughed then too because it was true, Clay wasn't the one for letting loose on the dance floor.

"That's it, that's the last one" I said as the last brownie was taken from the tray and I tossed it behind me.

"Didn't even make it until dark" Misha said as I looked at the time on my phone before slipping it back into my back pocket, it was just before six.

"Just about" I said as I pulled my ponytail tighter on the back of my head "Is Op still setting up the fireworks?"

"Yeah, he said those usually start around Seven thirty" I nodded and scanned my eyes around the large field again. Jax had left with "club business" about two hours ago and I was surprised he still wasn't back. Gemma nearly blew a gasket when only Op showed back up at the fundraiser.

The "Taste of Charming" was a success though; the silent auctions had Gemma up a couple thousand dollars and with the band about to play we were now all packing up the food tables at six forty-five and cleaning as much as we could.

"Who did Op fight?" I asked Misha as we made our way over to him while he was putting the fireworks in place.

"Long story short a former member of the club showed up and they have a rough past" I nodded "He's not here now though, he's back at the clubhouse."

Why would a former member of the club be so welcomed back at the clubhouse after fighting Opie? From what I've heard to be a "former" member, you had to be either kicked out or you were transferred out to another charter, once you were a member you were basically in it for life.

I watched the fireworks go off as the high school rock-band played and I glanced over at Opie and Misha. His arm was wrapped around her upper chest as her back was pressed against front. I missed Jax by just looking at how happy they were. As the last of the fireworks went off nearly everyone left but I stayed behind with Gemma to pack the rest of the things up that couldn't be left out overnight.

"Does Jax tell you what goes on at the clubhouse?" She asked as she pulled her car out of the parking spot.

"As in what the club does?"

"Yeah"

"Yeah he did, they're the middle man for running guns" She nodded as she turned a corner to get to Jax's place to drop me off.

"Has he opened up to you about what goes on?"

"No, never" I told her honestly while I looked out the window.

"Do you want to know what goes on behind those closed doors?"

"Not entirely. If it doesn't have anything to do with me then I usually leave myself out of it"

"That's where you're wrong Abby; Jax is your old man now; meaning everything that happens within the club you should know about. Plus with Jax bottling everything up so you don't know what goes on, it'll bite him in the ass one day"

"I've told him that he could tell me anything"

"Try and mean it this time, show him that you can be trusted with some pretty shitty information every now and then" I nodded at her words "If you can do that then you'll make a great old lady for him."

"Thanks for the advice Gem"

"No worries sweetheart, thanks for helping out today, my feet are going to be sore as shit for the rest of the week"

"Mine too" I said while wiggling my toes in my shoes a bit to feel the stiffness of them. "Also thanks for the ride, drive safe home" I told her while pulling the handle of the door and stepping out.

"Remember what I said, it's all about trust" I nodded again before closing the door and she drove off. I looked back at the house and pulled my keys from my bag before walking up the steps and unlocking the door. Jax wasn't home and I wasn't surprised to be honest. It gave me time to take another quick shower by myself before climbing into the bed and almost instantly I was out.

It was hours later when I felt the other side of the bed shift and I could smell his scent more strongly. After he moved the sheets and sunk underneath them, his arm was gently placed on my side as he spooned my back. "Mmm, what time is it?" I mumbled while I was still half asleep.

"After midnight, go back to sleep darlin'" He whispered against the back of my head before kissing it and settling in behind me.


	27. Chapter 27

**I miss SOA. I still can't believe they are filming the last season :'( **

* * *

I watched as he dressed the next morning while I laid on my side under the thin sheet on the bed. I didn't have anywhere to be this morning so I thought being lazy would do my body some good. He hadn't been very talkative since waking up and he didn't even offer for me to shower with him again this morning which was unlike him. Pursing my lips, I rolled over and watched as he pulled on a white tank before buttoning on a blue, gray, and white flannel.

"What happened last night?" I asked him and he looked back at me from the dresser.

"Club-"

"Don't say club shit Jax" I interrupted him and I saw his jaw tighten as he sighed

"What do you want me to say then, huh?" He said with an attitude that I didn't like.

"I want you to just tell me the truth. If I'm going to be your old lady then you have to trust me with shit that happens in the club." His shoulders slumped while he looked back at me before closing his drawer and shoving his wallet into his back pocket. "So just tell me what's eating at your brain because I know something's not right."

"Alright, Alright. Kyle, the guy Op got into it with yesterday…" He started and I perked up while nodding.

"The former club member" I said as he nodded before sitting on the edge of the bed by my legs.

"He fucked over Op, was supposed to be his getaway car on a run a couple of years ago but he bailed. Op got caught and was in Stockton for two years because of Kyle"

"Oh, so he was kicked out of the club?" He nodded while putting his hand down on my bare thigh, his roughly textured thumb brushed against my skin gently.

"When you're kicked out of the club you have to get your tattoo blacked out, we give you the option to do it yourself or we can do it. He didn't have his blacked out so we had to do it last night" My eyes widened slightly.

"Where was his tattoo?" I asked him in a small voice

"His back like mine and Op's"

"So the club had to black out his tattoo last night and I'm guessing it wasn't with black ink" He shook his head as I slid my hand over on top of his and squeezing it gently. "You, Kyle, and Op were friends."

"We got patched in together, got our ink the same time too. I trusted the guy with my life until he screwed Op, I don't regret what we did to him last night; he deserved worse… I just can't get the smell out of my head" I swallowed hard and scooted up a bit to wrap my arms around his shoulders, his arm snaked around my lower back.

"I'm sorry you had to deal with that last night, even if you hate him now; I know that it still couldn't have been easy" He nodded while he pressed his face into the crook of my neck, no doubt breathing in my scent to chase away memories of last night's events. "Next time something is weighing this heavy on your mind please know that you can tell me, I'm not going to judge."

"I'll remember that; just not used to having someone there for me"

"Well get used to it babe because I'm not going anywhere anytime soon" He smirked while he pulled his face away from my neck to kiss me. "But this brings up a question, if we ever split would I have to black out my tattoo?"

"Didn't you just say you weren't going anywhere?" He asked me with a raised eyebrow and I nodded before kissing him again "I should head out though" He kissed me again between talking "I'm working on a few cars today at the shop."

"No heavy lifting?" I asked; knowing full-well that he'd know what I was talking about.

"No heavy lifting. If anything comes up I'll let you know" I held him for a bit longer before letting him go "Stay in bed all day, I'll expect you like this when I get back later."

"I can't promise anything" I said while laying back down and pulled the sheet back up to my neck "Maybe a few more hours of sleep, it's way too early."

"Tell me about it darlin'" He leaned down and kissed the top of my head before leaving the room. I heard his motorcycle start up outside a few minutes later and I sunk deeper into the mattress to get another hour of sleep if I was lucky.

Luck wasn't on my side because sleep wasn't something I could do, but running was. So I quickly changed into a pair of black running Capri's and a dark blue tank top over a black spandex sports bra. Tying my Nikes, I texts Jax quickly to let him know I was going for a run and after finding my side waist pack, I clipped it into place and put the phone inside of it as well as my keys and a water bottle.

Thankfully there was a chill in the air so I knew that I wouldn't be sweating that much if not at all. I started off slow just to grasp my bearings and made sure I knew my way back to Jax's place without getting lost. After a 10 minute power walk, I went into a light jog and made my way towards the town square to maybe grab a coffee to fix my addiction of caffeine.

* * *

Three weeks had passed without a problem. It was weird because sometimes I would think about how my life was so hectic last month and now it was like nothing was wrong in the first place. The dance studio had opened up four days ago and I had taught my first hip-hop class to twelve high school students. Yesterday I had taught my first Jazz afterschool class and the middle schoolers were really happy that they finally had someone teaching them who wasn't over fifty years old, the kids were great.

The hip-hop class offered the teens to have a one on one session with me too and three students signed up for that which wasn't that bad considering all three students wanted to try different things. Ashley wanted to try music video dances, Tim and Chelsea wanted to be a "new style" contemporary dancer which was my favorite because it meant you were dancing not only to the beat of the song but from your heart.

I worked on the routine for Chelsea in the dance studio past hours with the volume up incredibly loud. She decided on the song "Russian Roulette" by Rihanna. It was a great song but I still needed to have a full routine by our next session. I moved from the right side of the room in front of the wall-length mirror to the other side of the room to grab my phone that was ringing on the desk. Turning the volume down on the stereo, I put the phone to my air to answer.

"Babe, do you still have that medical kit you just got shipped to the studio?" Jax asked and I raised an eyebrow

"Yeah… it came in this morning why?"

"I'll be there in a few" He hung up after that and I pulled the phone away from my ear and shook my head. Who was hurt now? Jax was already supporting a limp from a motorcycle accident from a few days ago. He said it was nothing but there was a huge yellow and purple bruise over the side of his thigh and knee.

I kept the music down as I waited for him, grabbing the medical first aid kit from the back room and looked through it quickly before I heard his bike pulling into the side parking lot. I pulled the door open and met him on the sidewalk, handing him the bag before he said a word to me.

"Who's hurt?"

"A guy we do business with, shot up Harry's" I blinked a few times, so that's why the police cars were jetting that way twenty minutes ago.

"Is he going to be alright?" He nodded

"Yeah don't worry about it, I called Tara and she's going to head over to the club house, she just didn't have first aid bag"

"She's a doctor and didn't have supplies on hand? That's weird" I mumbled the last bit but leaned up and kissed him gently "Go on, call me if you need some help."

"Are you staying here for long?"

"Just another half hour or so" He nodded and kissed me again before I walked back into the studio and locked the door behind me, there was no way a gun retaliation was going to keep me here by myself much longer. As I tried to get what was going on at the club out of my head, I turned the music back up and took in a deep breath and went into the backroom, making sure to write down that we needed another first aid kit, maybe two for good measure just in case.

I locked the office and put the keys back on the small hook in the hallway and walked back into the main room, the office phone in the back made me stop in my tracks. Who the hell was calling this late? I thought about just letting it ring to go to a message but then again it could be one of the students canceling. I unlocked the door again and grabbed the phone on the last ring.

"Michelle and Abby's dance studio, how can I help you?"

"And you thought you could run" said the voice on the other end and I could feel my heart stop as my eyes started to well up with tears as they stared at the wall "What? Cat got your tongue Abigail? Why did you run?"

"How… how did you find me?" I asked while trying to keep my voice steady.

"You should have told your friend to not include your name on that lease you signed for your dance studio. What a stupid mistake that was… one simple google search and there you were. You know Charming is pretty homey, of course you'd pick this place" I felt my muscles tense as I looked around at the darkened office around me to make sure that I was alone.

"You're here" I said because I didn't need to question it.

"I am. Just passed that boyfriend of yours on the street, I guess your type changed" I swallowed hard as he continued "You should have probably stayed in Los Angeles, at least then Dom could have protected you. You know he had this weird obsession with you during high school, I don't know how many times I had to remind him that you were taken, funny that he found you before I did; son of a bitch was always two steps ahead of me."

"Freddy, just leave okay?" I said as I kept my eyes on the door.

"I can't do that sweet pea, I told the guys back at the station in Picayune I was bringing my wife back home this week; they're all very excited, even offered to throw us another engagement party."

"Is… is Dominic here too?"

"Maybe" He said "There's a package in all of that shit you ordered for your lovely studio, open up the one from Los Angeles." I looked over at all of the boxes that had just come in this morning; we were going to sort through them tomorrow. My eyes widened when I found one sent from Los Angeles. "Open it."

I slowly opened it up and emptied the contents on the desk. "Did you send this to the studio in Los Angeles? That's why you broke in?" I asked him, picking up the clothing.

"Still smart as ever. I was having second thoughts, tried to go unnoticed but that guy got in the way, you know he wasn't supposed to be there late" I put my hand over my mouth to hold back the gasp or cry, I wasn't quite sure. "I have to admit that you looked beautiful in that black dress, a little short for my liking but it's all the same."

"You were at the funeral"

"I was. Surprised you didn't see me, we walked right by each other a few times" I ran my fingers over the white lace on the table in front of me. "But Dominic had your interest then I guess… but don't worry that's all going to change now that we can be together again."

"We can't…"

"I remember the first time you showed me that dress" He said "It was your mothers; remember when you pulled it from storage?"

"Yes" I whispered and then the other line went dead. I let out a small sob that I had been holding in and pressed the button to end the call on my end. I started dialing Jax's number quickly and put the phone back up to my ear, it rang once before a hand came from the side of me and pressed the black button to end the call.

"Put the phone down sweet pea" I gripped the phone in my hand, too afraid to open my eyes and too afraid to turn around to see that he was actually there. I could feel him there and there was no way I could get around this.

"Please go" I whispered out and he wrapped his warm hand around my wrist and my hand dropped the phone.

"I don't want to hurt you Abigail, so don't push me." He grabbed the phone from the desk and hung it back up. "All I want is for you to come home with me" His fingers flexed around my slim wrist before letting it go.

"I'm not going anywhere with you. You need to leave Freddy."

He slammed his hand down on the desk hard enough to make the poster in a frame on the side wall come crashing to the floor; I jumped and turned around now. "I'm not leaving without you, just give me five minutes"

"No I'm not giving you-" His hand came up to press against my mouth, his other arm snaked tightly around my lower back to hold me against him.

"Five minutes baby, just give me that. I've traveled so far to see you. Please just five minutes" His deep green eyes bore into mine that were still welling up with tears and spilling over.

"Okay" I mumbled against his hand, my head nodding. He removed his hand from my mouth but kept me close to him as he positioned me to sit up on the edge of the desk.

"Okay" He smiled and ran his free hand over his shaved head "Good" He let out a long sigh while smiling wider "Thank you for giving me five minutes… I'm very sorry that it went down like this. I did things I wasn't proud of but I just wanted you back, I wanted to see you."

"Okay" I whispered, his fingers running down my shoulder while his hand slid up and down my back.

"I never met to scare you with the text messages, I wasn't in my head baby, and you forgive me right?" I nodded while my body started to go into auto pilot mode. "I saw you and your boyfriend together, you know that he's not right for you right? You two can't be together. You deserve a nice guy, a guy who can provide for you and never let you be in danger" I nodded again. "I can forgive you for sleeping with him, I can forgive you for leaving me; it's all under the bridge baby. All that matters is right now, right here, me and you. We have a chance to start all over, build a foundation that this relationship never had."

I nodded while smiling a bit, if I agreed then he wouldn't hurt me; there was no need for him to go to the extreme.

"Right, yeah" I nodded as his hand fell away from my back.

"Why don't you start" I blinked a few times before I realized what he wanted me to do, he wanted me to tell him why I left, what he was doing wrong.

"Oh, okay" I whispered while bringing my hand up to brush a few strands of hair away from my damp cheek "I guess… um…" I watched his face that was showing me that he was very interested in hearing what I was about to say. "Back at home, you were very possessive."

"That's true, yes" He said

"And I got…"

"Frightened, yes I know. Sometimes my energy can be very big, I've always been an intense guy, and I own that"

"Yes, right. That's why I left because you frightened me."

"But baby, you should know there's not a thing I would do to make you afraid of me" He said while running his index finger over my bare thigh. Of course I would wear yoga shorts for dancing today.

"You killed-"

"He got in the way baby, I didn't mean it and I feel awful that it happened. You have no reason to be frightened of me"

"Right" I whispered while his hand came up to trace along my jaw and up to my ear.

"You just weren't used to being loved so deeply sweet pea" He said as he leaned forward and tried to press his lips to mine but I put my hand up to his chest and pushed him back a bit "Oh, right. I'm sorry" He whispered before smiling and looking my face over "Is there anything else that you need to tell me? Get off your conscious?"

I took in a deep breath and shook my head lightly "No?"

"The baby?" He asked "You don't want to mention that?"

"I lost the baby, you know that" He shook his head as he pulled away from me and I put my hands down on my lap together, trying to stay calm.

"You had an abortion, Trudy told me over at the hospital after you left, why did you do that?"

"I… yes I had an abortion at six weeks"

"Why would you do that? You didn't think you should have talked to me about that instead of just telling me you lost our baby?"

"It was never a baby" I said, my voice getting steadier and that consequence was a slap across the face. I let out a small yelp as I turned my head back to look at him, already tasting the blood in my mouth.

"You never gave him a chance" He said as I bolted for the door and his arm came up around my stomach just as soon as I was outside of it, he kicked the door shut as I screamed and he shoved me back into the closed door, the back of my head cracking against the hard wood. I saw stars as I tried to keep myself from blacking out but that didn't work out so well. I slumped against the door and he picked me up, cradling me to his chest while he pulled open the office door and started to walk down the hallway.


	28. Chapter 28

**Sorry for that terrible cliff hanger! Here's the rest of that mess. Hold onto your hats because things are a little intense. xo**

* * *

I woke with a start, my body gasping for breath as I tried to pull my hands down from the restraints they were in. The cool steel clipped into my tan wrists and I winced. Where ever we were it was musky and bright. I blinked my sore eyes open and looked around at the room; all the lights had been turned on in the basement of the dance studio. Freddy hadn't seen that I had woken up yet, he was speaking to himself in hushed whispers and if my ears weren't ringing then I probably could've understood him.

I looked up at the handcuffs that were on my wrists together, the short chain was hooked on a pole as I sat on the floor. I then looked around the room as he untucked his button down black shirt and found my purse on the other side of the room on a table full of old folders. "Don't worry I locked the front door so we can be alone in peace" He said and I looked over at him as I pulled at the pole again. "Oh I'm sorry sweetheart do those hurts?" I nodded as he crouched down, straddling my legs as he grabbed a key from his pocket "I didn't want you waking up and running off again, you won't run right?" I shook my head.

"No, they just hurt" I whispered and he nodded while leaning down and pressing his lips to mine gently and I swallowed back the bile that came up. The handcuffs were taken off of my wrists and I rubbed against the red skin.

"There we are" He tossed the handcuffs to the side and moved his hand to grip my chin gently and he kissed me again while his other hand moved to pull at the tank top I wore but I pushed away his hand and turned my head.

"I thought we were starting over" I whispered "And you're still hurting me" I looked at his face and he looked down and nodded while standing up and holding out his hand for me to take. I took in a deep breath and took his hand and he pulled me to my shaking legs.

"We are going to start over, you're just so beautiful" His fingers brushed against my cheek and I willed myself into leaning my head into his touch "Did you see what I found? I had a feeling it wasn't going to look as perfect but there it is" I looked at the ring on my finger and smiled while looking up at him and nodded.

"You found it" I said and he nodded

"Do you still like it?"

"Of course, it's beautiful" I curled my hand into a fist and took in a deep breath while glancing over at the door and then back up at him. The sight of blankets on the carpeted floor by the other wall caught my eyes and I thought of a quick plan. "Baby" I whispered and he smiled while nodded "Can we lie down? My head still hurts."

"Of course" He said while putting a hand in mine and we walked slowly over to the blankets and he helped me lay down and he laid next to me on his side while his fingers played with the hem of my shirt. I didn't want to do this, I didn't want to even be touching him but I had to. "I'm sorry for hurting you, I didn't mean to" He whispered while I felt his lips against the side of my head.

"I know baby, I know. It's okay, I'll be okay." I turned my head while smiling at him and brought my hand up slowly to cup over the side of his neck, bringing him mouth down against mine. He didn't question it because he never did before, so when his weight shifted on top of me I ran my fingers up to the buttons on his shirt and once that was undone he pulled my tank top over my head.

I pushed him onto his back and straddling his waist while his fingers ran over my thighs. I pulled my hair back into a ponytail and leaned down after to place small kisses along his smooth jaw and down over his neck. When his hands started to grip at the bottom of my shorts, I pulled myself away and stood up, pushing his chest down with my foot as he smirked up at me. I shimmied out of the shorts and took another step back to step out of them.

"Are you sure you locked the upstairs door baby?" I asked him and he nodded while sitting up and watching me play my fingers through the hem of the lace shorts I had been wearing underneath the yoga shorts.

"Why do you ask?" He asked with a raised eyebrow

"Oh I just wanted to make sure we would be alone" I gave him a reassuring smile "Remember when we used to be spontaneous?"

"Mmm" He hummed to himself

"Remember when you would make love to me against the wall or your desk in your office at the station?" I asked and he stood up, his shirt falling away from his arms to drop onto the blankets. I took a few more steps backwards until I reached the table of folders and knocked them to the side and all of the papers scattered along the floor.

"I always loved it when you came to the station with lunch, the sheriff started catching on though" He mentioned while walking toward me, his fingers pulling his belt apart, then unbuttoning his jeans and unzipping them.

"Of course he did, you rocked my world" I grabbed at his belt and started to pull it through the loops slowly "Show me what I've been missing baby, make love to me again right here." His hands came up and cupped over the sides of my face as he kissed me long and passionately. I ran my fingernails up and down his lower back, my other hand going to my purse by my hip. I bit down on his bottom lip gently as he let out a small gasp of pleasure. He was about to pull back but I leaned up and wrapped a hand to the back of his neck to hold his lips against mine for a few moments longer. All I needed was a few more seconds.

My free hand searched blindly again for the gun that Jax had put in my bag, and finally I found the handle and ran my fingers up over the safety and silently clicked it off. He took my hips and picked me up easily to sit up on the table but by doing so the bag was knocked off of the edge of the table and he pulled back as I held onto the gun. I held my breath as I pressed it to his side.

"Get the fuck off of me" I hissed at him and he let out a groan.

"What do you think you're doing with that?" He asked, his hands still on my hips, his fingers digging into my skin painfully.

"Get the fuck off of me Freddy!" I yelled at him and he let me go and took a few steps back. I aimed the gun in front of me at his chest.

"Where did you get that? You hate guns."

"My boyfriend made sure to put it in my bag for a situation like this" I let out a deep breath and sucked in a quick one.

"Don't do anything you'll regret sweet pea, Dominic is still in town and if you kill me he'll kill you, I won't be able to protect you from him."

"Dominic isn't going to hurt me Freddy, at least not like you did" He took a step forward and I gripped the gun tighter, putting my other hand underneath it to steady my hands; the way Jax taught me last week. "Don't take another step."

"You aren't gonna hurt me Abigail, there isn't a murderous bone in your body; that's why I love you so much, that's why I want to take you away from Jackson Teller, away from this motorcycle club you have yourself wrapped up in. This life you have here is going to swallow you up, I just want to protect you" He took another step and I felt my hands shaking even more now. Another step and now the end of the gun was pressed against his skin.

"No… you're wrong" I whispered

"I would never lie to you, you know me. We grew up together, we were our firsts" His hand slowly came down on my hand over the gun but he didn't move it. "It's always been Abby and Freddy; I promised your dad that I'd protect you so that's what I'm doing."

"No you didn't" I shook my head but his eyes were too honest "You didn't promise him anything."

"You were working one morning, I had to pick him up at the corner bar; you know how much he loved his day drinking… after I got him in his bed he made me promise him Abby. I love you baby, I wouldn't start lying to you now."

"Why didn't you tell me that before?"

"He told me not to tell you, he wanted it to be a secret… now why don't you put the gun down and we can forget this happened okay?" He started to push the gun down and my hands were going numb around it. My father had made him promise to protect me, but little did my father know that Freddy was the one hurting me all along. I started to shake my head as he came close to me once again, holding the gun by our sides, my hand still wrapped around the grip, his on top of mine. "I love you, please tell me that you love me too, I know you do; and we can start over."

"I don't love you" I said while looking up at his disappointed face

"You love him, you love that biker" I nodded at his words and his hand on the gun tightened "Did you ever love me?"

"Yes… but you hurt me too many times Freddy; you made me hate you."

He gripped the gun again, trying to pull it away from me but my grip was still as tight as ever even though I couldn't feel my fingers. "No, Stop!" I screamed while we wrestled for it between us and then it went off and I gasped. His hands stilled on the gun while he took a few steps back and put his hands on the gunshot wound on his stomach.

"Baby" He whispered while he looked at me, I could feel the warm blood on the slippery gun between my hands "No, baby, why?" He asked me.

"I'm sorry" I said "I didn't…"

"Call for an ambulance" He said and I blinked a few times "Go!" He yelled at me and his loud voice shook me out of my guilt. I looked down at my hands and then back up at him as he stood there after grabbing my tank top to press to his wound.

"No, I'm not going to call anyone for you" I shook my head

"You can't let me die"

"You go walk to the hospital, I'm not calling anyone to help you, you don't deserve it"

"Excuse me?" He asked

"I said you don't deserve it. You made me drive to the hospital after beating me within an inch of my life, after you raped me. I'm not helping you" I said while seething, tears bubbling over my eyelids to streak down my face.

"You're such a fucking bitch" He cursed at me, slowly walking toward me "You were always a fucking whore, why did I even go through the trouble of getting you back? You're a waste of fucking breath" I let him speak and I watched him as he slowly grabbed the keys on the floor, groaning while pressing his hand to his stomach harder to stop the bleeding.

"I was the best thing that ever happened to you" I told him

"No, that's where you're fucking wrong" He coughed out but that was a lie and I knew it. He dropped the keys while walking and grabbed them from the floor again and before I could see what he was doing, he came up quick and threw a stack of papers at me and it was enough to distract me for him to knock the gun out of my hand; then push me off of my feet. I stumbled while trying to get away from him and to the gun that had tumbled a few feet away but he had grabbed my ankle and pulled me down while he straddled my waist and pressed his forearm into my throat.

I coughed while trying to push it away from me and he took his other hand and grabbed the gun and put it to my temple. I stopped struggling right away when I felt the warm steel against my skin. "I should've killed you the first time you talked back to me, I knew from then on you were going to be a fucking problem" He whispered down at me while looked up at him, I glanced at the gun to my temple and didn't think as I shoved my fingers into the wound on his stomach, it made my own stomach turn and I nearly threw up. He yelled in pain and tried to pull the trigger but it was jammed. When I had been standing there after I shot him I had clicked back on the safety, thankfully he hadn't noticed.

"You stupid whore" He screamed as he stood up over me and I shoved my foot up into his groin as he doubled over and I grabbed the gun, clicked the safety off and shot him intentionally this time.

He fell onto his side limp.

I let the gun fall from my hands as I took a few steps back into the table. Without having to aim I had shot him in the side of the head.

He was dead.

I let out a small cry and covered my hand over my mouth while looking away from the graphic scene that lay a few feet from me. I slid onto my ass with my back against the table's leg, my hands finding the prepay cell phone within all of my things that had scattered from my bag. I pressed redial and put the phone up to my ear.

"Hey darlin'" Jax said on the other end and I let out a breath

"Jax, I need you to come to the studio" I said in a calm voice

"Abby? What's wrong?" He asked even though I gave him no reason to think anything was wrong.

"I just need you to get here okay?"

"Alright, I'll be there in a few minutes" I nodded slowly to myself and shut the phone and put it back down by my hip. I stared at Freddy's back and his legs for the longest time trying to pin point where things went wrong but I couldn't. I had gone over it so many times in my head for years on when the exact moment was. Maybe it was the first time he had yelled at me in high school, or maybe I was too needy, he had told me that I was too needy once. But how did it come to this? How did this end with me killing him?

I had to have been staring at him for a good 8 minutes before I heard footfalls on the floor above me, and it was more than one person. I slid my hand over and grabbed the gun, my breath coming in and out quickly as I pushed myself up to stand and aimed the gun at the door. If this was Dominic I was surely just going to shoot him.

"Abby?!" I heard Jax's voice and then gun fell from my hand as I got to the door and pulled it open.

"Shit" Was the first word he said as he looked me over and I fell into his arms. "What happened? Are you hurt?" He asked, seeing all of the blood on my hands, stomach and upper thighs. I shook my head while I had my forehead pressed against his chest and I held my arms around him tighter.

"You gotta tell me what happened darlin"" He said while pulling me away from him and he pressed his hands to the sides of my face, brushing his thumb again my cheek.

"Freddy, he tried to… he tried to take me and I…" He wrapped me up in his arms again while I tried to get the words out but my sobbing was becoming too much.

"Brother what's..." I heard Opie's voice behind Jax and I shivered a bit. Jax pulled away from me again to only shrug out of his cut and his sweatshirt and he handed it to me as I pulled it on over my half naked body before Op could see me.

"Stay here okay? You're safe now; we're going to take care of it"

"I already did" I whispered and Jax looked down at me and back at the open door before taking a few steps into the brightly lit room and looked at the body.

"Fuck" He muttered to himself

"Take care of your her Jax, I got this" Opie said as he put his hand down on Jax's shoulder and patted it gently, he looked over at me with a frown before shaking his head and walking into the room.

"Op" I said and he turned back around to look at me "Don't tell Mish okay?" He looked from Jax and then back to me before nodding and Jax silently thanked him before wrapping me back up in his arms and bringing me upstairs to clean myself off.

He sat me down on the toilet seat cover in the small bathroom and wet a few rags and started to rub the drying blood off of my hands. "Tell me what happened" He said as he stayed on his knees in front of me while working on the blood on my legs now.

"He um, he called the studio after you left. He admitted to killing Max, he said he got in his way… before I could call you he was already there in the room with me" I took in a deep breath to try and even my breathing "I tried to pretend with him to get away but he got mad and I was so fucking stupid" I let out a small sob and Jax stopped rubbing the cloth into my thigh as he took my hand and then held a hand to my face.

"You're not stupid Abby, you were trying to get away" I nodded and bit down on my bottom lip.

"I thought that if I could distract him then I could get the gun you put in my bag. I did but he started saying things about my dad and it caught me off guard, I said something that he didn't like and then we were wrestling with the gun and it went off against his stomach. He… he got the gun after that and I thought that he was… he said that he should've killed me the first time and I just stopped thinking and got the gun from him and shot him. I wasn't aiming for his head; I swear I didn't mean to do that"

"Baby" He said while taking my fidgeting hands in his and held them tightly "You're blaming yourself, I get it but you don't have to feel this way. You did what you needed to do and I'm proud of you, he was going to kill you and you saved yourself. If I found him before you did that it would have been worse."

"I know" I whispered "He deserved it."

"He did" He leaned up and pressed his lips against mine and I let one of his hands go to hold the back of his head, my fingers threading through his silky blonde hair gently. I was the one that pulled away from him because the memories came back so suddenly and I was back in tears again. He pulled me down onto the floor with him and he held me while I sat in his lap, his hands running up and down my back soothingly. "You said that you said something to him that he didn't like, what did you say?" He asked while I had pulled away from his shoulder a few moments before.

"He asked me if I loved him and I said that I didn't, I said that I loved you" I couldn't look at him as I said this and I don't know why, maybe from fear of his facial reaction; Jax was always easy to read and I couldn't face that rejection right now.

His hand came up from my side to slide under my chin to bring my face up to look at him "You said that to him?" He asked and I could only nod "I love you too darlin'."


End file.
